Flip flopping over tax hikes and spending cuts a ‘bruising episode’ for UK November 21, 2022 Flip flopping on UK economic policy has been “a bruising episode” for the country over the past few months, a top City economist said today. The huge swing in tax and spending decisions between former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and the current number 11 incumbent Jeremy Hunt has damaged the country’s financial credibility, according to Neil Shearing, [...]
UK ‘can’t afford’ another decade of lost growth, CBI warn November 21, 2022 The UK “can’t afford a repeat” of its severe economic underperformance since the 2008 financial crisis, the chief of the country’s top business group will warn chancellor Jeremy Hunt today. Responding to last week’s autumn statement, Tony Danker, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will slam the chancellor for failing to roll [...]
Autumn Budget aftermath: Economists warn Hunt piles pressure on ‘squeezed middle’ November 18, 2022 Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement has piled further pressure on the “squeezed middle” according to analysis from the Resolution Foundation that found tax rises would deliver a 3.7 per cent income hit to typical households. The think tank said the uprating of benefits in line with inflation would make a “huge difference to those on low-to-middle [...]
OBR: UK is already in recession and taxes on course for post World War II high November 17, 2022 The UK is already in a recession that will burn a huge hole in the public finances, forcing the government to hike taxes to their highest level since just after the Second World War in the 1940s, the country’s fiscal watchdog warned today in forecasts published alongside Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement. The Office for Budget [...]
UK inflation scales to 41-year high, but analysts bet it has peaked at 11.1 per cent November 16, 2022 UK inflation has surged above the City and Bank of England’s expectations to reach a new 41 year high, but experts said it may now have peaked, official figures revealed today. Prices rose 11.1 per cent over the last year, pushing the rate a whole percentage point higher from September, according to the Office for [...]
UK loses over half a million work days to strikes and unions signal more to come November 15, 2022 The number of working days lost to strike action in the UK over the summer topped 560,000, stats out today reveal, and unions have warned this year’s total could hit the highest yearly number this century. The combined September and August figure is the highest two month total in over a decade, according to the [...]
Workers’ real pay erodes at historic pace despite huge wage rises November 15, 2022 Workers’ pay is still being eroded at a historic pace by rampant inflation despite employers hiking wages by one of the greatest amounts since records began, official figures revealed today. When taking off the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) preferred measure of inflation, pay excluding bonuses dropped 2.7 per cent over the last three months, [...]
Without Brexit, there would never have been a harsh austerity Budget this week, says BoE veteran November 15, 2022 The real reason Britain is facing harsh austerity measures is the UK’s departure from the EU, according to a senior economist. Former Bank of England interest rate policy maker Michael Saunders said that Brexit has ‘permanently damaged’ the UK’s economy. “The UK economy as a whole has been permanently damaged by Brexit,” said Saunders, who [...]
Inflation has peaked, but prices will stay higher for longer, analyst bets November 14, 2022 Inflation has peaked in the UK, but will take a long time to fall, a top investment bank has bet. New data out from the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday will show prices rose 10.9 per cent over the last year, according to Deutsche Bank. While above September’s 10.1 per cent reading and a [...]
Egg-istential crisis: Shops ration staple as inflation, supply woes drive up price November 11, 2022 Supermarkets are rationing sales of eggs as problems with supply chains are leaving soaring prices and empty shelves. The staple food is experiencing a rise in price due to inflation and a shortage, owing in part to recent orders to house all poultry in doors due to a huge surge in avian flue. Steven Dresser, [...]