Sunak: Existing help for businesses hit by lockdown extension generous enough June 17, 2021 Rishi Sunak has tonight ruled out any extra financial support for businesses hit by the four-week long extension to lockdown. In an interview with the FT, the Chancellor said that the existing schemes had “erred on the side of generosity” in order to “accommodate delays to the roadmap”. Although the Treasury yesterday announced an extension [...]
Sunak says pensions triple lock remains government policy as he faces £4bn bill June 17, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the triple lock on pensions remains government policy after it emerged that he may have to spend £4bn more on pensioners from next year if he sticks to the pledge. Sunak was grilled on the issue in an interview with GB News, after ONS data published earlier in the week [...]
Tories’ ‘triple lock’ pension pledge could cost Treasury £4bn June 16, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have to stump up £4bn on pensioners from next year to cover the Conservative Party’s ‘triple lock’ pledge, despite efforts to cut back spending after the pandemic. The headline growth rate of average UK earnings rose to 5.6 per cent in April — an artificial inflation caused by last year’s furlough [...]
Rishi Sunak not expected to alter furlough scheme despite Freedom Day delay June 14, 2021 Rishi Sunak not expected to alter furlough scheme despite 'Freedom Day' being scrapped
Rishi Sunak promises to protect the City from Brussels’ financial services bid June 8, 2021 Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, promised that the City will remain “competitive and dynamic” even in the face of Brussels’ bid to unseat it from its crown, in a private call with banks. Sunak described the financial services industry as a “crown jewel” and, according to reports, said the country will fight to protect it. The [...]
Sunak ‘confident’ of tech tax progress ahead of G7 finance meeting June 4, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he is “confident” of making “concrete progress” towards a global deal for taxing digital giants when the G7 finance ministers meet over the weekend. Taxing firms such as Amazon and Facebook has become an area of disagreement between the US and a number of other countries. Earlier this week the [...]
US slaps tariffs on UK goods in push for global tax deal June 3, 2021 The US has slapped new trade tariffs on six nations including the UK as President Joe Biden seeks to corral fellow economies into backing his proposals for a global tax deal. After announcing tariffs worth 25 per cent against $2bn worth of goods from the UK, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India and Austria, the White House [...]
BoE eyes a climate-conscious corporate bond purchase scheme May 21, 2021 The Bank of England (BoE) has tabled plans to make its £20bn of corporate bonds better aligned with government net zero targets today. Set to begin later this year, the bank will not immediately sell off bonds issued by businesses that have high carbon emissions, such as energy and oil firms. “Divestment is a powerful [...]
Britain is sitting on a mountain of debt – but there is a way to climb down May 5, 2021 The UK’s public finances – a source of perennial debate amongst politicians, think tanks, economists and investors – are in focus like never before. Covid-19 has ushered in a period of unprecedented public spending, funded in the main by large amounts of debt. Government borrowing – money it needs to borrow to pay for spending [...]
Rishi Sunak: Wealthy will be spared from post-pandemic tax raid May 5, 2021 Wealthy families will escape a post-pandemic tax raid earmarked to boost the economy, Rishi Sunak has suggested, as the chancellor praised Britain’s already “very progressive tax system”. Sunak said yesterday that he is “cautiously optimistic” about an upswing in economic growth, as Brits prepare to spare pent-up cash alongside the relaxing of lockdown restrictions. Speaking [...]