Budget 2015 Beer duty calculator: How much tax will you save on a pint this year after Osborne’s 1p cut? March 18, 2015 Penny off a pint? George Osborne knows how to keep the pub-going public happy. For the third year in a row, the chancellor has cut beer duty, keeping the good times rolling for the pub industry. A single penny cut may not sound much, but breweries and pubs are toasting the news. Along with the [...]
Budget 2015: Here are George Osborne’s best quotes plus his Budget speech in full March 18, 2015 George Osborne's final Budget during this parliament had few surprises but plenty of great quips, including – to the dismay of bookies everywhere – a quip about Ed Miliband's now-infamous second kitchen. Here's a selection of our favourites from today's big speech. (Source: Getty/City A.M.) (Source: Getty/City A.M) (Source: Getty/City A.M.) [...]
Budget 2015: Osborne’s two kitchens joke just cost bookies with biggest ever Budget buzzword bingo bet payout March 18, 2015 Everyone loves playing a bit of buzzword bingo on Budget day – except for bookies this year. Punters are the first big winners of Osborne’s pre-election giveaway and Ladbrokes the losers, as the bookies is having to make its largest ever payout on Budget buzzword bets. Osborne’s gag about two kitchens – referencing an Ed [...]
Budget 2015: “Saving revolution” as Osborne pledges first-time buyer Isa March 18, 2015 George Osborne unveiled a Budget aimed at helping savers, first time buyers and pensioners today, with measures including a "Help to Buy Isa". Under the new rules, the government will contribute £50 for each £200 saved by first-time buyers. Savers who put away £12,000 could stand to make as much as £3,000 Just before he [...]
Budget 2015: The stories that broke during George Osborne’s speech March 18, 2015 The announcement of the UK government’s annual budget is one of the biggest dates in the financial calendar. City hacks' ears were tuned into George Osborne’s speech this lunchtime, as eyes were glued to Twitter for all the breaking hot takes on the chancellor’s tie colour and fingers were madly typing away to produce a [...]
Budget 2015 summary: Analysts, economists and think tanks give their verdict on Osborne March 18, 2015 George Osborne delivered a Budget stacked with facts, figures and policies intended to ward off Labour's cost of living offensive and get the electorate on side before May the reactions are already flooding in. Here is a sampling of analysts' reactions to the final set-piece event of the coalition government. BNP Paribas' Dominic Bryant gives [...]
Riots, water cannon and arrests at ECB protests in Frankfurt March 18, 2015 The opening of the European Central Bank's (ECB) new €1.3bn (£940m) headquarters in Frankfurt was met with riots as demonstrations staged by "Blockupy" activists turned ugly this morning. Police vehicles and rubbish bins were set ablaze as police and protestors clashed, leading to dozens of arrests and some injuries. Some 10,000 demonstrators were estimated to be [...]
Who is Nigel Farage’s political soulmate? Meet senator Rand Paul March 18, 2015 Nigel Farage's new book – The Purple Revolution – gives the definitive inside account as to how a party once on the fringes of British politics came to be a major player on the national stage, told by the man who arguably made it all happen. Among the revelations of how Ukip managed to snag [...]
“No giveaways, no gimmicks”: Here comes George Osborne’s Budget 2015 March 18, 2015 George Osborne is set to outline a range of measures designed to reinforce his party's austerity message, while enticing as many voters as possible for May's election. The chancellor has promised "no giveaways, no gimmicks' in his final Budget of this parliament. So far, the government has hinted at Easter eggs for pensioners, in the [...]
Chuka Umunna blasts Ukip as anti-business after CBI speech March 17, 2015 Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna has branded Nigel Farage’s Ukip anti-business, due to its determination to take Britain out of the EU. He told City A.M.: “I do think Ukip is an anti-business party. There’s no doubt about that.” He was similarly critical of the coalition’s approach. “I think this government has compromised not only [...]