City eyes economic data dump for clues on BoE rate hike path September 11, 2022 City traders will be looking for clues shedding light on how far the Bank of England will need to hike interest rates in this week’s economic data dump. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index posted a decent performance last week, adding nearly one per cent to close at 7,351.07 points. Its mid-cap domestically-focused counterpart, the [...]
Depths of grief: Truss, Starmer, Johnson, May and Harman lead tributes to Queen in sombre Parliament September 9, 2022 Prime minister Liz Truss, her predecessors Boris Johnson and Theresa May, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Mother of the House Harriet Harman, led heartfelt tributes to Her Majesty the Queen in Parliament today. MPs and peers gathered at Parliament to pay tribute to the Queen this afternoon, all wearing black in a show of [...]
Free market think tanks criticise Truss’s energy price freeze September 8, 2022 Free market think tanks have said that the government’s plan to freeze energy bills will be ineffective and does not sufficiently target those most in need of support. “The energy price freeze is middle class welfare on steroids,” Andy Mayer, CEO of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said. “It represents a gigantic, untargeted handout to [...]
London’s FTSE 100 kicks higher ahead of Truss energy package September 8, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 kicked higher today after new prime minister Liz Truss launched an around £130bn cost of living support package. The capital’s premier index climbed 0.33 per cent to 7,262.06 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, added 0.36 per cent to [...]
Economists warn UK to face blackouts under Liz Truss energy plan September 8, 2022 Economists today warned prime minister Liz Truss’s decision to freeze energy bills for everyone in the UK at £2,500 raises the risk of blackouts. Experts at the economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said energy supplies may run dry due to the government propping up energy spending. “Households, businesses or governments… will [...]
PM Liz Truss to announce energy plan: Borrow £150bn, restart fracking and freeze bills at £2,500 September 8, 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to announce bold new proposals to tackle the energy crisis, including borrowing £150bn, freezing energy bills at £2,500 until 2024 and restarting fracking. The newly-minted PM’s plans come after she dismissed suggestions of a windfall tax on energy producers to pay for the borrowing, as questions are asked about [...]
Liz Truss: New government must demonstrate that politics can deliver September 7, 2022 Some time ago in an editorial meeting at City A.M.’s offices, just after the discussion of another major UK infrastructure project dumped on the back-burner, one of our more cynical staff members suggested that it might not be all bad for Britain to enjoy a benign dictatorship for a few years, driving through necessary but [...]
Liz Truss energy price freeze would peg inflation, BoE chief economist says September 7, 2022 LIZ Truss’s plan to freeze energy prices would prevent inflation from scaling to its highest level since 1980, but interest rates may have to stay higher for longer, the Bank of England’s top wonk said today. Huw Pill, the monetary authority’s chief economist, told the commons treasury committee that the new prime minister’s cost of [...]
New housing secretary must ease rental supply crisis, say UK landlords September 7, 2022 The new housing secretary’s first port of call must be to ease the rental housing supply crisis in the UK, according to a national body of landlords today. Freshly appointed Conservative party leader and prime minister Liz Truss yesterday outlined her cabinet, posting Simon Clarke as housing secretary. Chief executive of the National Residential Landlords [...]
Meet Liz Truss’s top team: Long-term ally Kwasi Kwarteng to hold UK’s purse strings as Chancellor September 7, 2022 Following yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle, City A.M. introduces you to some of Liz Truss’s key ministers. Who are they? What has their journey been so far? Also check out the new Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, the new Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly as well as the new Business Secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg. Britain’s new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has the job [...]