Sunak recommits to April National Insurance rise amid cabinet jitters January 6, 2022 Rishi Sunak has today recommitted to April’s National Insurance rise, after it was reported that he faced cabinet backlash over the measure this week. Sunak said today the tax rise is needed to deal with “an unprecedented level of backlogs within the NHS”, after it was reported that House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg called [...]
British firms intend to hike prices five per cent this year January 6, 2022 British businesses are laying the foundations to hike prices sharply this year as they scramble to survive amid soaring costs, reveal official figures published today. UK firms are intending to raise prices five per cent this year, according to the Bank of England’s survey of chief financial officers of British businesses. A toxic combination of [...]
Which direction will the UK’s economic weather vane blow in 2022? January 6, 2022 It’s fair to say the last two years have been a turbulent one for the UK economy. The pandemic has upended working practices, supply chains and the monetary policy playbook. With the emergence of the Omicron variant leaving the spectre of coronavirus hanging over the country, it’s fair to say the British economy is not [...]
Tory tax revolt: Rees-Mogg comes out against Rishi Sunak’s planned national insurance hike January 6, 2022 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is urged this morning by Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg to ditch planned rises to national insurance. Rees-Mogg told Rishi Sunak at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that the increase must be scrapped to stem the rising cost of living crisis engulfing the Government, according to the Daily Telegraph. The Prime Minister faced questions from [...]
On the global stage, is 2022 the happy new year we’ve been hoping for? January 6, 2022 As ever, Oscar Wilde put it best: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Optimism, the most underrated quality in our cynical age, is necessary to get through the day. Analytically, it is also often of more use than the doom and gloom that passes for the [...]
The three potential metaversal consequences of QEndless January 5, 2022 Dr Chris Kacher examines how the world is on a knife edge, but could a metaversal snowflake create an avalanche to tip the scales?
CPI inflation to scale to highest rate in recent history this spring and smash Bank of England’s expectations January 5, 2022 Inflation will hit a record high and smash the Bank of England’s expectations this year, according to bets laid by City analysts. The UK’s mainstream measure of inflation will accelerate to a peak of 6.8 per cent this April, propelled higher by swelling energy bills, investment banking giant Goldman Sachs warned yesterday. However, the cost [...]
Wave of cost of living concern sweeps across Britain January 5, 2022 A wave of concern over the soaring cost of living is sweeping across Britain, reveals fresh figures released today. Over half of households are worried the cost of living crisis will hit their living standards this year, according to research carried out by high street bank TSB. Nearly one in three Brits are concerned their [...]
Millions of commuters may be hit as national rail strike looms over job cuts and living costs January 4, 2022 A national rail strike looms this week as one of the leading rail workers’ unions is warning it may urge its members to pause work over job cuts. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) said rail workers faced losing their jobs this year just as the cost of living crisis spirals. The union is calling [...]
Energy chiefs urge government to step in to cool cost of living crisis January 3, 2022 Energy chiefs have called on the government to step in and ease the cost of living crisis looming over British households. The chief executive of Octopus Energy told Times Radio that unless the government intervened in the market, soaring gas prices will hit consumers hard. Greg Jackson said: “Unless action is taken, we will start [...]