Money Spotlight: The reasons your real pay is dropping like never before June 19, 2022 Britons saw their basic pay fall at the fastest pace on record in April due to soaring prices. More pain is in store for UK households as inflation is set to hit further eye-watering peaks later this year. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday that regular wages excluding bonuses plunged by 4.5 per [...]
Saturday Read: The City still has a long way to go as women make up less than one in four of all promotions June 18, 2022 Women still make up less than a quarter of senior promotions within financial services businesses. Of the 5,815 senior level promotions and hires that took place in the financial services sector in the last year, just 1,365 were women, or 24 per cent, based on FCA data. Despite some progress being made over the previous [...]
Run on equity release: Cash tied up in properties fund £1 in every £90 spent by retired Brits June 18, 2022 A new analysis published this week showed that equity release finances around £1 in every £90 spent by retired Brits. Total retirement spending funded by equity release could top £4bn this year and £5bn in 2025, according to modelling by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), as homeowners increasingly look to property wealth [...]
Get ready for the biggest transport disruption in decades as half of all Britain’s rail lines will close this coming week June 18, 2022 Network Rail said this week that more than half of all Britain’s rail lines will be closed during next week’s strikes. Network Rail said no passenger services will serve locations such as Penzance in Cornwall, Bournemouth in Dorset, Swansea in South Wales, Holyhead in North Wales, Chester in Cheshire and Blackpool, Lancashire. There will also [...]
Brexit row explodes as EU announces fresh legal action against UK and revives shelved measures June 15, 2022 The European Union just announced fresh legal action against the UK as part of a series of measures in response to the Government’s move to unilaterally scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The European Commission is also resuming legal proceedings against the UK that were shelved last year to facilitate negotiations on post-Brexit trade. [...]
UK mortgage arrears hit highest level in more than 12 years as debts to banks creep past record £2bn June 15, 2022 The value of mortgage arrears in the UK has reached its highest level since 2010, with £2.05bn of mortgage debt delinquent at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. As interest rate rises and the cost-of-living crisis hit household finances, more families are now [...]
Priti Patel’s Rwanda deportations increasingly descend into chaotic mess as world jumps on UK plan to ship off asylum seekers to Africa June 15, 2022 The government’s plans to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda, which has become one of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s flagship policies, is rapidly descending into a chaotic mess, with legal proceedings piling up by the hour. Media around the world are branding the policy ‘racist’, ‘neo-colonial’ and ‘absurd’. Media across Africa and Asia are particularly critical, [...]
London today: Mayor Sadiq Khan to roll out measures to take on ‘scourge’ of violence against women and girls June 15, 2022 The Mayor of London will unveil a new £18-million-funding package on Wednesday aimed at combatting the “scourge” of violence against women and girls in the city. During a visit to Waltham Forest in north-east London, Sadiq Khan will announce the Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) Strategy which uses public health and education to implement [...]
UK Infrastructure Bank risks becoming a ‘plaything’ of Treasury under so-called Henry VIII powers, peers warn June 15, 2022 To prevent the UK Infrastructure Bank becoming a “plaything” of the Treasury, new safeguards are needed, according to concerned peers. Concerns have been raised at Westminster over proposals that would allow the Exchequer to change the body’s activities set down in legislation – so-called Henry VIII powers. Provisions would also allow the Treasury to amend [...]
Middle class stampede for equity release as Brits use their property as ATM by withdrawing billions via later life mortgages June 14, 2022 UK homeowners have already released equity to the tune of £1.4bn so far this year, with this figure estimated to hit almost £5.6bn by the end of the year. In fact, during the first three months of this year, over 12,500 homeowners opted to utilise the pent up value accumulated within their property via later [...]