Nationwide sets mortgage cap and tough new stress test for home buyers July 22, 2014 Nationwide has announced it is capping all new mortgages at 4.75 times the income of the borrower, and setting a tough new stress test to ward off concerns over interest rate rises. The bank will impose a new 6.99 per cent stress test, an increase on the existing rate, although a spokesperson would not reveal [...]
Beazley share price rises as insurer reveals profit up 61 per cent July 22, 2014 Insurer Beazley saw its share price close four per cent up yesterday, after it announced strong results for the past six months of trading. It revealed profit before tax was up a whopping 61 per cent, helped by strong investment returns and a lack of major catastrophic events. Net premiums written were up 17 per [...]
MH17 plane crash: Russia sanctions will hit City Cameron warns July 21, 2014 David Cameron and George Osborne have warned the City of London to brace itself for a financial hit as they prepare to push for tough financial sanctions on Russia in the aftermath of the MH17 disaster. Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister referred to the downing of the Malaysian airlines flight, [...]
Savers to get free impartial pension advice July 21, 2014 ALL OF Britain’s savers are to be given free and impartial advice about pensions investments, the government said yesterday, though it made a key change to the body providing the information. The advice will now be provided by organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureau, not pension providers themselves, as originally proposed by George Osborne in [...]
Government sitting on student loan black hole of debt, politicians warn July 21, 2014 An influential committee of MPs has warned that the government is sitting on a black hole of student debt which could run into the hundreds of billions by 2044. The business, innovation and skills (BIS) committee is calling on ministers to publish the details of a possible sale of student loan debt, after it emerged [...]
Labour to create two new trains bodies in re-nationalisation plan July 17, 2014 LABOUR leader Ed Miliband is expected to announce plans this weekend to introduce two new rail bodies overseen by parliament as part of a renationalisation scheme. The plans could allow public sector companies and not-for-profits to run key routes. At the party’s national policy conference in Milton Keynes, Miliband is expected to detail proposals to [...]
Nick Clegg: We’ll force big business to publish gender pay gap data July 17, 2014 A Liberal Democrat manifesto pledge to force big companies to publish the average pay of their male and female employees has been dismissed as “crude” by the Institute of Directors (IoD). The policy, launched today by leader Nick Clegg and employment minister Jo Swinson, would mean businesses that employed more than 250 people must publish [...]
Conservatives toughen up strike laws to weaken unions’ powers July 17, 2014 DAVID Cameron has promised new measures to block strikes that don’t have the support of at least 50 per cent of the workforce. The Prime Minister has announced a manifesto pledge to toughen up strike laws if the Conservatives are elected in 2015. The plans, which are likely to anger trade unions, will force union [...]
…but wage growth lags further behind pace of price inflation July 16, 2014 FALLING unemployment and a rise in the number of jobs announced yesterday both failed to boost the value of wages, which grew 0.7 per cent in the quarter compared to a year ago, excluding bonuses. The figure from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which excludes those who are self-employed, is just 0.3 per cent [...]
David Cameron prepares for election battle with cabinet reshuffle July 16, 2014 David Cameron has fired the starting pistol in the race to win the general election next year, ridding his top ministerial ranks of dead wood and installing media-savvy MPs and spinners instead. The Prime Minister’s last reshuffle before the general election next May signals his intention to fight a tough campaign based on [...]
