NHS: George Osborne to promise an extra £2bn of funding November 30, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne is expected use his Autumn statement on Wednesday to announce an extra £2bn funding for frontline NHS services. It is anticipated that Osborne will pledge extra funding from April next year, according to the BBC. In a speech to parliament on Wednesday, when he will deliver exact details on its [...]
All eyes on Mario Draghi as Eurozone inflation slides to a five-year low 0.3 per cent for November November 28, 2014 Eurozone inflation slumped to a five-year low in October, turning up the heat on the European Central Bank to act in order to avoid a damaging deflationary spiral. The flash figure of 0.3 per cent for November was down from 0.4 per cent in October, Eurostat said. This was in line with economists' estimates according [...]
Airports call for George Osborne to scrap air passenger duty or risk losing jobs to Scotland November 27, 2014 Airports in the north of England have appealed to the chancellor to scrap air passenger duty (APD) in his Autumn Statement next week, following the announcement yesterday that Scotland will be free to get rid of the tax as part of devolution plans. Three key airports in the north have all made appeals to [...]
David Cameron: Let us block migrant benefits or we’ll leave EU November 27, 2014 David Cameron will today fire a warning shot over EU negotiations by revealing plans to dramatically tighten benefits allowances for immigrants from within the Union. The Prime Minister will toughen his stance by insisting that he is ready for Britain to leave the EU unless benefits for migrants can be severely restricted. His speech comes in [...]
Mario Draghi: Eurozone’s future at risk if prosperity does not spread November 27, 2014 Eurozone countries could start to consider leaving the currency union if prosperity does not spread across the area, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi said yesterday. If countries such as Greece remain permanently less competitive than those like Finland, with higher unemployment and lower growth, “this threatens the essential cohesion of the union”, he said. Draghi [...]
Boris Johnson leads London FinTech delegation to Singapore in push to expose City startups and entrepreneurs November 27, 2014 London’s financial technology (FinTech) sector has received more than half of all European FinTech venture capital (VC) investments made so far this year, a record $539m (£342.6m) and triple the amount raised in 2013. The new figures from London & Partners come as London Mayor Boris Johnson leads a FinTech trade delegation in Singapore today [...]
UK immigration: David Cameron to call for end to EU migrant tax credits November 27, 2014 David Cameron is to call for measures aimed at making the UK a less attractive option for European Union immigrants, in a move that will see more claims he is imitating UKIP. In a speech on Friday the Prime Minister will say that the UK’s continued membership of the EU is dependent on the UK [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker says he should have changed Luxembourg’s tax laws November 27, 2014 Jean Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, has responded to criticisms of Luxembourg’s tax system while he was in government. The former Prime Minister said he wished his government had legislated to to give it more control of tax deals by international companies. He said the tax structure was a way to diversify [...]
Mario Draghi makes case for for economic union November 27, 2014 Mario Draghi has upped the rhetoric and made the strongest statement yet about creating economic union in the single currency zone. Speaking in Helsinki, the European Central Bank (ECB) president said existing powers, under the Stability and Growth Pact, do not go far enough. Draghi wants certain decisions about fiscal reform to be taken [...]
Stagecoach share price jumps on East Coast mainline rail franchise win with Richard Branson’s Virgin November 27, 2014 Stagecoach and Virgin are the joint winners of a bid to run the East Coast mainline route, netting the government £3.3bn over the next eight years. The route between London and Edinburgh has been publicly run since 2009 after previous operator National Express ran into difficulties and gave up the contract. Stagecoach and Virgin, which [...]