Green Bonds are misguided, counter-productive, and an investment handicap November 12, 2020 On Monday, the chancellor announced that the UK government will soon be issuing “Green Bonds”. In separate but related news, Scottish Widows will dump £400m of stocks that don’t meet Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. ESG compliance has become the first thing discussed at investment committee meetings. Everyone wants to show how green they [...]
Government advisory body tells Rishi Sunak to hike capital gains tax November 11, 2020 Rishi Sunak should double capital gains tax rates in order to reel in an extra £14bn, according to the government’s tax advisory body. The Office for Tax Simplification today released its findings on a review ordered by Sunak, telling the chancellor he should increase the rate of capital gains tax and slash exemptions to take [...]
Government mulls plans to introduce Tier 4 when lockdown lifts November 11, 2020 Ministers are mulling plans to add Tier 4 to regionalised coronavirus rules when England exits the nationwide lockdown on 2 December. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted England will return to a local lockdown approach when current measures automatically expire in three weeks. However, reports that a fourth tier could be rolled out in virus [...]
The Piano Works and Kerb market bosses among those pushing Rishi Sunak to back hospitality investment November 11, 2020 London hospitality firms including The Piano Works, street food market Kerb and bar operator Lollipop have called on the government to incentivise investors to help rebuild the sector without burdening struggling companies with extra debt.
London unemployment rate sees largest rise in a generation November 10, 2020 The number of people out of work in London soared over the summer, with the largest quarterly increase in the unemployment rate in over 30 years. Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show the unemployment rate in the three months to September rose 1.2 per cent from the previous quarter to six per [...]
UK unemployment hits four year high as redundancies reach record levels November 10, 2020 Redundancies hit a record high in the three months to September while the unemployment rate jumped, according to new figures which show the UK’s labour market declined rapidly before the chancellor U-turned on coronavirus support measures. A record 314,000 British workers were made redundant in the three months to September, 181,000 more than in the [...]
House of Lords defeats Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill November 10, 2020 The House of Lords has rejected Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill that could potentially breach the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and break international law. Peers voted to remove two clauses from the Internal Market Bill, which deal with the status of Northern Ireland after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December. The legislation will now [...]
BBC licence fee negotiations kick off as ministers ramp up pressure over funding November 10, 2020 The government today kicked off negotiations with the BBC over how much the TV licence will cost in the future, dialling up the pressure on the embattled public service broadcaster. The talks will determine the level of the licence fee, which is currently set at £157.50, for at least five years from 2022. Culture secretary [...]
Rishi Sunak announces post-Brexit outline for City of London November 9, 2020 Rishi Sunak has outlined the City of London’s future after Brexit, which will aim to provide stability for EU financial services firms operating in the UK while also trying to open up the sector to more international markets. Sunak said the Treasury today was unliterally publishing “a set of equivalence decisions for EU and EEA [...]
Weekly outlook, 9-13 November: Investors shift their focus back to the UK economy November 9, 2020 Investors were kept busy with the drama across the Atlantic last week, but they’ll soon want to focus back on the UK in what will be a busy week of results and economic updates. After a nail-biting election, markets will likely be considering the implication of a Biden presidency. But with GDP and unemployment figures [...]