Dorries: Truss ‘deserting the centre ground’ with ‘unconservative’ benefit cuts October 6, 2022 Nadine Dorries has accused Liz Truss of “lurching to the right and deserting the centre ground” allowing Labour leader Keir Starmer to “place his flag on”. The former culture secretary who supported Truss in her leadership bid and was a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson, said the government’s policies were “cruel” in a time of [...]
Truss ‘giving with one hand and taking with other’ through stealth taxes, IFS says October 6, 2022 Liz Truss is “giving with one hand and taking with the other” by keeping stealth taxes, a new study out today reveals. Some £2 for every £1 returned to Brits in the prime minister and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cutting mini-budget will be lost to “fiscal drag,” the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said today. [...]
Liz Truss speech: North London’s not the problem in Britain’s race to growth October 5, 2022 Like a battered boxer with a thick skull, then, Liz Truss lives to fight another day. On the ropes, yes, but not quite down and out. Yesterday’s speech was fine, as it goes, and not much more than that. It will keep her party in some degree of order for at least a week or [...]
Pound snaps winning streak against US dollar after Truss conference speech October 5, 2022 The pound slumped against the US dollar today, slicing some of the gains it has made since the currency collapsed after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last month. Sterling weakened as much as two per cent against the greenback. It was down against the euro too. The world’s major currencies have tumbled against the dollar this year. [...]
Liz Truss’s Tory Conference speech: The PM’s claims and statements fact-checked October 5, 2022 At the Conservative Party conference earlier today, Prime Minister Liz Truss gave her keynote speech, talking about her upbringing, the economic climate, and healthcare. Full Fact offered to fact check the different claims and statements for City A.M. “I stand here today as the first Prime Minister of our country to have gone to a [...]
Services economy stalls as UK ‘drifts’ toward recession October 5, 2022 Britain’s all important services economy is stagnating, driven by consumers cutting spending in response to soaring inflation, a closely watched survey out today shows. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 50 last month from 50.9 in August. The reading means the UK services economy [...]
Kwarteng trashes market bets on earlier OBR report and fiscal plan October 4, 2022 The pound today climbed to its highest level against the US dollar in two weeks despite chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng trashing market expectations of a sooner-than-expected fiscal plan. Sterling surged 0.78 per cent against the greenback to buy $1.141. It has now regained all its losses since Kwarteng’s mini-budget rocked the currency last month. UK borrowing [...]
Truss and Kwarteng mini-budget to ‘deepen’ UK recession October 4, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing without costing their plans will make the looming UK recession worse, City economists predicted today. Soaring mortgage rates driven by lenders passing on higher market yields pushed up by a lack of confidence in prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s [...]
Truss facing revolt on real-term benefits cut as she insists ‘no decision has been made’ yet October 4, 2022 Liz Truss has suggested she is undecided on increasing benefits in line with inflation, as she faces a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs over the policy. The embattled PM was probed on the issue during a BBC Radio 4 Today Programme interview, in wake of a testing day on Monday during which she was forced [...]
Kwarteng u-turn bodes ill for many tough fights to come October 3, 2022 The Kwarteng u-turn on tax doesn't suggest measures on planning or infrastructure will be any easier to get past restive backbenchers