UK proposes earlier banker bonuses in bid to boost competition November 26, 2024 UK regulators have officially laid out plans for the country’s top bankers to get their bonuses years earlier in a bid to boost competition with rival jurisdictions. The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published proposals on Tuesday to reduce the bonus deferral period for most [...]
The self-employed are natural entrepreneurs. So why is our government ignoring them? November 26, 2024 Supporting the self-employed could help unleash a needed wave of entrepreneurialism. So why are the government not acting?
Retail chief warns about return of inflation after tax-raising budget November 26, 2024 The chief of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that tax-raising measures announced in the latest government may lead to the return of inflation in the UK. Shop prices remained in deflation in November, down 0.6 per cent month on month, up from deflation of 0.8 per cent in the previous month. Shop price [...]
Bank of England’s Lombardelli supports ‘gradual’ interest rate cuts November 25, 2024 In her first speech as one of the Bank's deputy governors, Lombardelli said she supported a "gradual removal" of monetary policy restriction.
Storm Bert: Great Western Railway suspends London Paddington services November 25, 2024 Train services between London Paddington and both South West England and south Wales have been severely impacted by the effect of Storm Bert. Great Western Railway (GWR) has suspended services on ‘all key routes” due to flooding and fallen trees while other operators have cancelled services today while more than 180 flood warnings remain in [...]
Trump’s election means it’s time to take Bitcoin seriously November 25, 2024 Bitcoin was once dismissed as a tulip bubble, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that – in an era of fiat money inflation – it is the best way back to sound money The incoming Trump administration has announced its intention to back a “strategic Bitcoin reserve”. That catapults what was once a fantastical thought experiment, [...]
Budget uncertainty has gone but odds have been stacked against business November 22, 2024 If Rachel Reeves thought certainty would cure the UK economy’s growth problem, she was wrong. She’s just pitted consumers against retailers. This data-heavy week has reflected that uncertainty over the Budget has not been cured by policy which heaps pressure on business. We’ve had inflation rising, debt compounded, inheritance tax receipts soaring, farmers protesting, the [...]
Retail sales fall on Budget uncertainty before run-up to Christmas November 22, 2024 Retail sales fell by almost one per cent last month as cash-strapped Brits held back big ticket purchases amid a cloud of Budget uncertainty. The Office for National Statistics said this morning they dropped by 0.7 per cent in October, following a 0.1 per cent rise the previous month, which had been revised down from [...]
MPs flag ‘major concerns’ over errors in labour survey November 21, 2024 An influential group of MPs has taken aim at the UK’s national numbers body today amid fears that errors in its labour survey are hamstringing “accurate” economic policy making. The chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Meg Hillier – a Labour MP – wrote to the boss of the UK Statistics Authority, Professor Sir Ian [...]
Surge in government borrowing raises threat of more Reeves tax hikes, economists warn November 21, 2024 A sharp rise in government borrowing costs fuelled by pay rises for public sector workers and rising debt payments has raised the threat of future tax hikes, according to economists. Borrowing rose to £17.4bn last month, marking the second highest October figure since monthly records began, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics [...]