July Budget 2015: Can you tell the difference between George Osborne and Gordon Brown? July 8, 2015 It's Budget day again today- and if it all seems a bit repetitive to you, spare a thought for George Osborne, who will be enduring his twelfth. Although, admittedly, it'll be the first time he hasn't had another party to please. But are they really all the same at heart? We've trawled through George [...]
July Budget 2015: FTSE rises ahead of George Osborne’s announcement July 8, 2015 After a disappointing few days in the wake of the Greek crisis, this morning the FTSE 100 woke up in a more optimistic mood, rising 0.52 per cent in early trading in anticipation of encouraging announcements from George Osborne during today's summer Budget. Read more: July Budget – Here's what to expect Sterling was 0.23 [...]
Barclays share price climbs after board sacks Antony Jenkins in favour of boss with “new set of skills” July 8, 2015 Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins has been sacked, with the bank's board saying it seeks a leader with "a new set of skills". Jenkins – who some dubbed the "nice guy of banking" – will leave the business on 17 July, when John McFarlane picks up the reins as executive chairman. A search [...]
July Budget 2015: George Osborne set to push up tax thresholds but ease back on Conservative plans to slash welfare bill July 7, 2015 George Osborne will today use the first Tory Budget in 19 years to deliver on his party’s pre-election pledge to slash taxes for millions of workers. Yet the chancellor will also row back on the Conservatives’ manifesto commitment to find £12bn of savings from welfare payments by 2017-18 – instead taking an extra year to [...]
David Cameron backs transitional price cap as part of energy market shake-up after CMA report July 7, 2015 David Cameron said yesterday that he supported plans for a “transitional” energy price cap. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called for changes to be made to companies’ standard variable, or default, tariff – the tariff that energy customers pay if they have not made an “active decision” to change. The CMA said [...]
Greek debt crisis: Donald Tusk says Greece has five days to reach an agreement July 7, 2015 European Council President Donald Tusk warned Greece has just five days left to reach an agreement to save it from bankruptcy ahead of an emergency summit on Sunday involving all 28 EU members. "The stark reality is that only have five days to find the ultimate agreement," he said. "Until now I avoided talking about [...]
Will Greece be able to stop capital controls? Here are its options July 7, 2015 After voting against accepting proposals put forward by creditors in Sunday's referendum, Greeks are now facing capital controls – ATM withdrawals are limited to €60 (£43) a day. Meanwhile, suppliers are demanding businesses pay cash up front, making normal commerce impossible. Soon, the country could completely run out of cash altogether – analysts [...]
July Budget 2015: George Osborne increased welfare in coalition by £28bn. Where is it spent? July 7, 2015 Welfare is one of the big topics of the upcoming July Budget, and so it’s probably important to know where the vast sums of money go. The UK government spent £251bn on welfare payments during the financial year 2013-14, representing 37 per cent of all government spending, data released by the Office of National Statistics [...]
BBC Trust fires shot over the bows of government over licence fees for over 75s July 7, 2015 BBC director general Tony Hall insisted that the broadcaster had achieved “the right deal” yesterday, after it was confirmed that the broadcaster would start paying the licence fee for Brits over 75 from 2018. However, Rona Fairhead, the chairman of the BBC Trust, which represents licence fee payers, appeared to be less happy about the [...]
World’s third richest man Warren Buffett donates $2.84bn to five charities July 7, 2015 Warren Buffett has donated $2.8bn (£1.8bn) of shares in Berkshire Hathaway to five charities, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Read more: Warren Buffett sings Coca-Cola song, plays ukelele to shareholders The billionaire investor has made his 10th annual donation to the charities, taking his overall contribution over $21bn. Buffett, the world's third-richest person [...]