George Osborne needs a long-term plan for taxation July 6, 2015 “Don’t tinker with taxes” is a consistent cry from business. True, few will bemoan a change that benefits them, but it’s hard to overestimate how much firms value certainty in their tax affairs. It’s difficult to plan ahead if you don’t know what your costs are likely to be. Yet we now effectively have two [...]
Greek crisis: ECB maintains emergency funding for Greek banks and imposes bigger haircut on Greek bank collateral July 6, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed a bigger haircut on Greek banks making it harder for them to receive the emergency funding they need to stay afloat. The governing council's move means Greek banks will have to cough up more assets in exchange for Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA), however a source told Reuters that the [...]
Greek crisis: Chancellor George Osborne says Greece at “critical moment” after referendum July 6, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has warned we're at a "critical moment" in the Greek debt crisis after the overwhelming "no" vote in the country's historic referendum last night. "This is a critical moment in the economic crisis in Greece," he said. "No-one should be under any illusions. The situation risks going from bad to worse. Britain [...]
John Whittingdale confirms the BBC will pay for over-75s license fees from 2018 July 6, 2015 The culture, media, and sport secretary John Whittingdale has confirmed that the BBC will pay for free television licences for those aged over 75 from 2018. Whittingdale confirmed the move in response to an urgent question posed in parliament by his Labour shadow, Chris Bryant, following widespread reports over the weekend that the costs would be passed on to [...]
July Budget 2015: Boris Johnson says cut top tax rate and introduce living wage July 6, 2015 Boris Johnson has said he thinks the government should cut the top rate of income tax from 45 pence and simultaneously make some of Britain's biggest companies pay the living wage. The London mayor argues only boosting the income of society's richest individuals is unfair, and should be matched with pay increases for low-paid employees [...]
Greek crisis: Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras agrees with Angela Merkel he’ll present new proposals tomorrow July 6, 2015 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he will present new proposals for a deal at a summit of Eurozone finance ministers tomorrow, reports have suggested. Read more: Has the Greek crisis irrevocably tarnished the euro? Reuters reported that the pair had reached the decision during a phonecall today. However, [...]
7/7 London bombings 10th anniversary: Sadiq Khan – “Our spirit of togetherness saw to it that the terrorists failed” July 6, 2015 I can remember all too vividly where I was on the 7th July 2005, when word started filtering through that there had been several explosions on London’s public transport network. I was with my staff in our House of Common's office and all of us were in high spirits as we were still digesting [...]
Greece votes no: European markets dip as selloff begins July 6, 2015 European markets dipped today after the chances of a Greek exit from the Eurozone looked stronger than ever – although the dip wasn't as strong as expected. Having opened more than one per cent down after the Greek people voted against bailout conditions set by the country's lenders, the FTSE 100 later recovered some of [...]
Greek debt crisis: Germany shouldn’t lecture Greece – it never repaid its own debts, argues Thomas Piketty July 6, 2015 European conservatives, particularly in Germany “are about to destroy Europe and the European idea” over their demands to make Greece repay its debt, economist Thomas Piketty has said. Speaking with German newspaper Die Zeit, later translated on Medium, the outspoken economist claimed it was “a joke” that Germany was demanding Greece repay the €1.6bn [...]
Greek debt crisis: Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns despite referendum “no” vote July 6, 2015 Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned his post today, despite the Greeks' resounding "no" vote in Sunday's referendum. The economist praised the electorate for "the great capital bestowed upon our government by the splendid no vote" – but said it was clear he could not remain in his position. Varoufakis, who had previously threatened to [...]