Policy matters but it’s philosophy not details this contest should uncover July 11, 2022 The headline on our front page – about the Tories’ row over tax cuts – is not strictly correct. The argument is instead about cancelling a proposed tax hike – corporation tax’s increase to 25 per cent – or reversing another recent increase, to national insurance. Alas that nuance doesn’t fit into a headline, so [...]
Tory leadership: Tax row kicks off battle in earnest as Javid and Hunt hit back at Sunak July 10, 2022 THE BATTLE to become Prime Minister began in earnest this weekend with a row over whether Britain should cut taxes. There are now nine declared candidates to become Boris Johnson’s successors – with a tenth, foreign secretary Liz Truss, expected to join them later today or tomorrow. Yesterday saw a host of pledges to cut [...]
Tory latest: Javid and Hunt promise tax cuts as Shapps defends decision not to resign from Boris cabinet July 10, 2022 Press Association Sajid Javid has said his tax-cutting plans would cost around £39 billion per year, but this did not include slashing fuel duty further in the short-term. The Tory leadership candidate said he does not “believe in unfunded tax cuts”, adding: “I will be setting out in the next few days a scorecard which [...]
Editorial: Is anybody willing to take responsibility for Strike Island? June 23, 2022 Welcome to Strike Island, then. British Airways’ ground handlers – or at least, a chunk of them – are now joining an ever-growing list of unionised workers who have picked walkouts over work amid a heightening cost of everything crisis. Whether it’s wise for union leaders to take their staff out on strike at the [...]
Un-tea-lievable: Welsh government considers banning children from buying tea and coffee June 23, 2022 The Welsh government is considering stopping the sale of tea and coffee to under-16s as part of a wider ban on energy drinks. A consultation on the proposal to end the sale of energy drinks to children also asks respondents whether the ban “should be widened to consider other drinks typically high in caffeine, such [...]
London business groups: TfL funding deal ‘vital’ to capital’s economy as Khan warns on ‘managed decline’ June 22, 2022 LONDON business groups, think-tanks and property firms have warned the capital’s transport network needs a long-term funding settlement from central government or risk ‘decades’ of damage. Transport for London’s (TfL) latest emergency bailout with the Department for Transport runs out Friday – risking what the network’s chiefs have described as “managed decline” of the service. [...]
Lord Geidt resignation: Ethics adviser quit after being asked for advice on steel tariffs June 16, 2022 The Prime Minister’s ethics adviser resigned after being asked to approve tariffs on steel which the government itself acknowledges would break part of a World Trade Organisation treaty. Lord Geidt resigned last night, and in his letter to the Prime Minister said he was “tasked to offer a view about the Government’s intention to consider [...]
Soonicorn to unicorn: Euan Blair’s apprenticeship outfit Multiverse hits $1bn valuation after new funding round June 8, 2022 Multiverse, the professional apprenticeship start-up founded by Euan Blair, has hit a valuation of $1.7bn (£1.3bn) after completing a $220m (£175m) series D funding round. The round – co-led by StepStone Group and returning investors Lightspeed and General Catalyst – doubles the London-based firm’s valuation from just eight months ago, and will be used in [...]
Unite lose bid to become recognised as official union at City watchdog the FCA May 10, 2022 An official arbitration committee has rejected Unite the Union’s bid to become recognised as the official trade union at the Financial Conduct Authority. Unite had applied to become recognised as the official union for the sake of collective bargaining, but this morning the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) ruled the bid was not “admissible.” The decision [...]
Transport for London debt downgraded by ratings agency due to “uncertain” financial future May 9, 2022 A MAJOR ratings agency has downgraded Transport for London’s (TfL) debt due to the “uncertainty” of its long-term funding, in a further sign of the financial difficulty the operator finds itself in. Moody’s announced it had downgraded TfL’s long-term debt as a result of weaker economic growth and higher inflation delaying the service’s return to [...]
