Was this video of Yanis Varoufakis giving Germany the finger faked? March 19, 2015 It was the finger heard around the Eurozone: charismatic Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis appearing to flip the bird at Germany at a time when relations between the two countries couldn't be much tenser. Fears of a Grexit and demands for war reparations were still high on the agenda, and a flippant insult from a [...]
Budget 2015: Renton Osborne goes Toryspotting March 19, 2015 Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose the Tories. That was George “Renton” Osborne’s message to electorate, as he used the final Budget of this coalition to go Toryspotting. “We choose the future,” the chancellor said, in a sequence reminiscent of the opening of Ewan Macgregor’s 1996 film. ”We choose [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne’s election gift for young and old alike March 18, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne used the final Budget of this government to give sweeteners to both younger and older voters yesterday. In an unexpected move, he introduced a new Help-To-Buy ISA, giving first-time buyers up to £3,000. “For every £200 [first-time buyers] save for their deposit, the government will top it up with £50 more,” Osborne [...]
On life, taxes and Osborne’s chance to beat a £20bn target March 18, 2015 If taxes are one of life’s few certainties, then taxes on banks are becoming just as predictable. Just when HSBC thought its lot could not get any tougher, up pops George Osborne with his bi-annual hike to the rate of the charge on lenders’ balance sheets. The chancellor’s final pre-General Election Budget included a commitment [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne has discovered his mojo March 18, 2015 George Osborne has long been considered a cunning political strategist – in some circles, at least. Personally, for a long time, I found that argument difficult to accept. His first few Budgets hardly showed signs of high-level Westminster acumen. The debut of 2010 was inevitably tough, confirming an unpopular hike in VAT. The next prompted [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne plays to the crowd with a populist plan March 18, 2015 Despite the chancellor promising not to pull a rabbit from the hat, there were in fact plenty of Budget bunnies to be seen this year. With the UK now growing ahead of its major international competitors and an General Election coming up so soon, it’s clear that George Osborne felt confident enough to splash out [...]
Small beer Budget: George Osborne deserves credit for holding back on the bribery March 18, 2015 We should “choose the future” George Osborne insisted yesterday, in what may yet turn out to be his final Budget. But in truth, he spent much of his time focusing on the recent past. Employment has been buoyant and now stands at a record high. Those who predicted that spending constraint would lead to an [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne’s plans depend on strong growth – let’s hope it actually materialises March 18, 2015 George Osborne used the opportunity of the last Budget before the election to set out his manifesto. The Budget was based on “growth and investment”, he claimed, and he promised an end to austerity towards the end of the next Parliament, defined entirely as a promise to start expanding government spending again by 2019. The [...]
Was George Osborne’s last Budget before the General Election a winner for British savers? March 18, 2015 Iain McCluskey, tax director at PwC, says Yes This was a Budget for those who choose to, in George speak, fix their roof. With returns on savings sitting at miserable lows for most people, the chancellor had to innovate to try and encourage the country to save. He did this by using the Budget to [...]
Budget 2015 summary: Here are all the personal finance pledges George Osborne made today March 18, 2015 There were the usual tears and tantrums as chancellor George Osborne stepped up to the despatch box earlier today, to deliver a Budget speech geared largely towards savers, pensioners and first-time buyers. In the end, it was the "savings revolution" that made the headlines – with new rules on Isas and savings among a raft [...]