Scotch Whisky sector demands support amid export slump September 12, 2024 The Scotch Whisky Association has called on the government to provide additional support to the industry following a slump in exports. The Scotch Whisky industry is a major contributor to the UK economy. The Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) states that the industry is worth £7.1bn annually and supports 66,000 jobs across the UK, mainly in [...]
Major NHS reforms will ‘take a decade’, Keir Starmer warns September 12, 2024 A series of major reforms to the NHS will “take a decade” and won’t be “universally popular”, Sir Keir Starmer has warned in a speech about the future of the UK’s healthcare system. The Prime Minister pledged that his Labour government “will always make the investment in our NHS that is needed… even in difficult [...]
‘Hard to justify’: IFS calls for Reeves to limit pension tax-free lump sum September 11, 2024 Rachel Reeves is rumoured to be considering a shake-up of pension tax reliefs in the October Budget as she seeks to address a challenging fiscal inheritance.
UK agrees £500m funding deal with Tata Steel September 11, 2024 The government will invest £500m into Tata Steel’s UK operations alongside an “improved deal” for workers to support the transition to greener steel production, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed today. Workers at the country’s biggest steel plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, will receive “improved” redundancy terms and the offer of a skills package, he [...]
Economists are not concerned by the lastest GDP figures. They should be September 11, 2024 The growth party was always going to end sooner or later. In the first half of 2024, the economy exceeded expectations month after month, making the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7. One statistician at the ONS even said the economy was growing “gangbusters“. Alas, nothing lasts forever. Figures out this morning showed that the [...]
GDP unexpectedly stagnates in July following strong first half of 2024 September 11, 2024 The figures returned the UK to growth after GDP was flat in June and represent a positive start to the second half of the year.
Tech chiefs warn Chancellor not to undermine growth with tax hike September 11, 2024 A sweeping hike in capital gains tax (CGT) risks “undermining the chancellor’s growth agenda” and could suck talent and investment away from Britain’s start-ups, some of the country’s top fintech bosses have warned. Industry bodies and tech chiefs mounted a co-ordinated push to topple the suggestion of a blanket rise in CGT yesterday as they [...]
Bank of England gets the ‘green light’ for another rate cut following wage figures September 10, 2024 For the second month in a row the figures show that pay growth eased markedly even while unemployment edged lower.
State pension set to rise by £460 next year amid winter fuel debate September 10, 2024 This would mean that the state pension rises to around £11,962 next year from £11,502, an increase of almost £9 per week.
Labour’s employment rights package is playing with fire September 10, 2024 In the years following the financial crisis, the UK faced an unemployment challenge. As the great recession bit, the unemployment rate started to rise – peaking at over 8 per cent in 2012, around about the time former chancellor George Osborne was being booed at the Olympics. However, by the end of that year the [...]