Brands in London “suffering”: Fresh calls to scrap ‘tourist tax’ amid Mulberry losses June 28, 2023 Fresh calls have been made to reinstate VAT-free shopping for international tourists, after the chief of Mulberry warned its profits have been hit hard by it as they ditch London for Paris and Milan. Pre-tax profit at the British handbag maker fell to £13.2m in the year to April, down from £21.3m the prior year. [...]
Rishi Sunak should cut national insurance and make investment relief permanent, report argues June 28, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt should cut companies’ national insurance contributions and make the temporary business investment tax relief permanent, an influential think tank has argued in a radical blueprint to overhaul the UK’s tax regime. Employers’ should be subjected to a 12.8 per cent national insurance levy, one percentage point lower [...]
Bank of England and Rishi Sunak fail to win over investors on inflation fight June 27, 2023 Investors are sweating over Britain’s inflation problem running out of control and the Bank of England being unable to solve it any time soon, exclusive research for City A.M. has revealed. More than a year of raging prices has eroded confidence in policymakers’ ability to ease the cost of living crisis. Some 56 per cent [...]
Let’s all hand our cash over to the Treasury to pay off UK’s £2.5 trillion debt pile (not) June 27, 2023 Here’s a fun fact. If everyone in the UK worked for a year and gave all their earnings to the Treasury, the government could nearly repay the country’s more than £2.5 trillion debt pile. Alright, that’s oversimplifying the equation. But it does illustrate a principle in economics that often gets lost in the deluge of [...]
NHS bosses urged to ‘get a grip’ as report finds health service falling behind peers June 26, 2023 NHS leaders have been urged to “get a grip on budgets” as researchers suggested Britain’s health service was falling behind comparable nations. Health think tank the King’s Fund found the UK had “below-average health spending per person” and “lags behind other countries in its capital investment”. And hospitals have “substantially fewer key physical resources” like [...]
Rishi Sunak pleads with Brits to ‘hold our nerve’ in face of sky high interest rates and inflation June 26, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged the country to “hold our nerve” with sky high interest rates in order to beat down scorching inflation. Sunak today on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme gave his full backing the Bank of England’s latest interest rate rise as Tory backbenchers slammed Governor Andrew Bailey for being “asleep [...]
Rishi Sunak ‘in touch with allies’ about Wagner group rebellion in Russia June 24, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he is in touch with allies about the armed rebellion led by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, which UK defence officials have described as “the most significant challenge” to the Kremlin in recent times. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the actions of the private military company a “betrayal”, after [...]
Rishi Sunak pays tribute to troops on Armed Forces Day June 24, 2023 Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to the “phenomenal precision and professionalism” of British troops as events are held across the UK to mark Armed Forces Day. Parades and flypasts will take place around the country to thank the military community, with Falmouth playing host to this year’s national event with a 1,000-strong tri-service parade of [...]
Sunak’s five pledges laid to waste as most Brits say he’s doing a ‘bad job’ – especially on inflation June 23, 2023 Rishi Sunak asked Brits to ‘judge me on my record”, and it seems that’s exactly what people have done, as three quarters think the prime minister is “doing badly” at cutting inflation. A fresh poll by YouGov laid bare the lack of confidence in the PM this morning, after the group surveyed the public on [...]
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to meet lenders as mortgage crisis worsens June 23, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will ask banks if they can do more to support struggling households after a shock interest rate hike deepened the mortgage crisis. He is meeting large lenders including HSBC and Santander in Downing Street this morning as the government comes under pressure to relieve the pain. Prime minister Rishi Sunak and Hunt [...]