Tobacco firm Philip Morris secures £1bn takeover of inhaler maker Vectura September 16, 2021 Philip Morris, the maker of the world’s most popular cigarette brand Malboro, has sealed its £1bn takeover of asthma inhaler maker Vectura with a bumper share purchase. In August, the Vectura Directors supported a takeover bid from Philip Morris International to purchase Vectura at a price of 165 pence per share after a fierce bidding [...]
Rishi Sunak ‘thrilled’ by £300m DP World investment September 16, 2021 DP World, a Dubai based supply chain logistics company, has announced it will expand a London port to increase supply chain resilience. The £300m investment builds on the £2bn in funds that DP World has funnelled into Britain over the last decade and will add a fourth berth, a parking space for a ship, to [...]
UK, US and Australia sign new defence pact to tackle China September 16, 2021 The UK last night announced a new “landmark” security pact with the US and Australia in a move that’s been widely seen as an attempt to tackle China. AUKUS, as the new partnership will be known, will initially focus on acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for Australia for the first time ever. But the deal, the biggest [...]
There is hope after furlough September 16, 2021 The word ‘furlough’ is one we’ve all been acquainted with from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In England, at the beginning of lockdown, about 8m people were put on the government-backed job retention scheme in order to protect millions from unemployment. Now recent government figures show 1.55m people were on the scheme at the [...]
Ryanair aims to fly 225m passengers a year by 2026 : CityAM September 16, 2021 Ryanair today announced that it now expects to fly 225m passengers a year by March 2026, a 25m hike on its previous target. In a statement ahead of today’s AGM, the Irish carrier said that it now expected to see traffic growth of 50 per cent – compared to pre-Covid levels – up from past [...]
18.6m UK adults trust financial advice shared on social media, study finds September 16, 2021 Amid concerns about Kim Kardashian and so called FinTok influencers new research has found that 18.6m UK adults trust financial advice shared on social media platforms. A survey conducted by Skipton Building Society revealed that just two in five respondents would not trust social media stars when it comes to financial management. Young people were [...]
From Scotland, with love: indulgent drink driving laws get us nowhere September 16, 2021 In December 2014, Scotland introduced a new policy modifying its drink-drive limit, to reduce the number of alcohol-fuelled traffic accidents. The legal limit was slashed from 80 to 50mg per 100ml of blood. Now, seven years later, a study published in the Journal of Health Economics has looked at the impact of the policy. The [...]
Editorial: Sir Lindsay Hoyle leads by example and stands up to China September 16, 2021 The Chinese embassy has accused UK parliamentarians of undermining Beijing’s attempts to improve Sino-British relations. No, that is not satire. The same regime which slapped sanctions on MPs who spoke out against egregious human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims has claimed it is in fact Westminster standing in the way of a cohesive and collaborative [...]
Build 250,000 homes for key workers, urges think tank September 16, 2021 The government should ring fence land to build 50,000 homes each year for key workers on the frontline of dealing with the Covid crisis. The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has called on the government to use land to build affordable homes for key workers to help them get on the property ladder. Properties built [...]
Can tax be simplified? September 16, 2021 ICAS supports tax simplification as a vital part of building an effective and trusted tax administration system but making simplification happen isn’t simple. Why simplify tax? The complexity of UK tax legislation is reflected in complex tax administration systems which are difficult to use and do not facilitate compliance. Compliance is also undermined because many [...]
