UK coronavirus: Seventh Brit dies as European cases surge March 11, 2020 A 53-year-old woman has become the seventh Brit to die after contracting coronavirus, the Foreign Office confirmed this morning. The woman died in Bali, according to Indonesia’s health ministry, marking the first death in the country linked to coronavirus. A spokesperson for the Indonesian government said the patient was already “critically ill” when she was [...]
Heathrow Airport passenger numbers sink in February as coronavirus hits demand March 11, 2020 Passenger numbers at Heathrow Airport declined nearly five per cent year-on-year in February as a lack of demand due to the coronavirus outbreak began to take its toll on the transport hub’s footfall. The monthly fall to 5.4m passengers was largely down to a falling demand on Asian and European routes, which have been the [...]
COVID-19: potential tax responses in the UK Budget? March 11, 2020 The rapid development of cases of Covid-19 in the UK, and the disruption that this is causing in the UK and globally, may prompt the Chancellor to act in the Budget to help businesses or take powers to do so. So, what might the Chancellor do? Read more: UK interest rates slashed to battle coronavirus [...]
UK economy posted zero growth even before coronavirus March 11, 2020 The UK economy flatlined in January, data has shown, as industrial production contracted and the services sector struggled even before coronavirus spread in Britain. The zero growth figure was below analysts’ expectations of a 0.2 per cent expansion, and shows that the pick-up in confidence after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s December election win failed to [...]
Insurance giant Prudential to float stake in US business March 11, 2020 Insurance giant Prudential has confirmed it will float a stake in its US unit following pressure from an activist hedge fund. Prudential this morning said preparations are underway for a minority initial public offering (IPO) of Jackson in the US as it said it is closely monitoring the development of coronavirus. Group chief executive Mike [...]
Budget 2020: How Rishi Sunak will tackle coronavirus and hike spending March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to unveil the 2020 Budget today after the Bank of England’s shock move to slash UK interest rates. Just four weeks into the job, Sunak has spent the last 27 days planning to hike public spending. Record investment would see the government mark the end of austerity. But he is [...]
How mathematical models attempt to predict the spread of disease March 11, 2020 The various pronouncements on coronavirus are a source of puzzlement to many. On the one hand there are lurid predictions of millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. On the other, while the actual numbers are growing, they seem tiny so far compared to the scale of the predictions. Almost 100 years ago, [...]
Wealth management firm Quilter suffers profit slump March 11, 2020 Wealth management firm Quilter suffered a drop in profit last year against a tough market backdrop, and warned this morning that coronavirus could have an “adverse impact” on the company. The figures The company reported profit after tax of £146m in 2019 compared to £488m the previous year. Its loss before tax from continuing operations [...]
Coronavirus: Bank of England slashes UK interest rates to 0.25 per cent March 11, 2020 The Bank of England today slashed UK interest rates to just 0.25 per cent in a bid to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) cut takes interest rates lower than the 0.75 per cent they were already at, in a move designed to boost [...]
Wanted: Someone to breathe new life into the fumbling BBC March 11, 2020 Today is your last chance to throw your hat in the ring for one of the most important roles in British public life. That’s right, it’s the closing date for applications to be the next director general of the BBC. The successful candidate will be the most critical appointment at the BBC since Lord Reith [...]
