Election poll: Labour is closing the gap on the Tories November 26, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party has squeezed the Tories’ election poll lead down to 11 points from 18 a week ago, a new survey by data company Kantar showed today. Support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives dropped two points to 43 per cent, while Labour climbed five points to 32 per cent. Read more: Chief [...]
Tackling UK productivity crisis could yield £83bn a year for economy, says PwC November 26, 2019 The UK productivity crisis is dragging on the economy, a new report has said, which could be £83bn a year larger if laggard areas could make up just half the efficiency gap. The next government has a major opportunity to increase investment in infrastructure and encourage the private sector to better train its workers to [...]
What is microfinance and why does it matter for investors? November 25, 2019 Exclusion from the financial system is widely regarded as a major obstacle to people’s efforts to grow out of poverty. In 2017, 1.7 billion adults across the globe had no access to a bank account, with the vast majority of them living in emerging and frontier markets. 56 per cent of these were women, and [...]
DEBATE: Would Modern Monetary Theory be a viable strategy to boost the UK economy? November 25, 2019 Would Modern Monetary Theory be a viable strategy to boost the UK economy? Melissa Davies, partner and chief economist at Redburn, says YES. Profound changes have opened the door to creative policy-making in the UK. All the parties have abandoned fiscal belt-tightening, and the Bank of England has implicitly acknowledged that it will continue to [...]
Sterling falls against the dollar as UK economy slows but US picks up November 22, 2019 The pound has fallen against the dollar as traders near the end of their week after survey data was better than expected in the US but painted a gloomy picture of the UK economy. Sterling was trading 0.59 per cent lower against the greenback by 4.40pm, taking it to $1.283. Read more: FTSE 100 leads [...]
Some inconvenient truths about income November 22, 2019 “Chin up. Be positive. It’ll all work out.” We are always being encouraged to look on the bright side, but too much optimism can be dangerous. Take the simple matter of how much we expect to earn from our savings and investments. Far too many people around the globe take a “glass half full” approach [...]
General Election 2019: Tories to up stamp duty for non-UK residents November 22, 2019 Foreign residents will be slapped with a higher rate of stamp duty than UK home-owners under a Conservative government, as part of efforts to tackle the country’s housing crisis. A three per cent surcharge will be levied on companies as well as individuals buying property who are not UK tax residents, the Tories will announce [...]
Mitie’s clients hold back on spending until after Brexit and the General Election November 21, 2019 Outsourcing giant Mitie has warned that its clients are holding back on committing to new projects, amid ongoing Brexit uncertainty and the upcoming general election. The firm, which provides cleaning, security, facilities management, energy and healthcare services, said the uncertainty could affect revenue growth in the coming months. Read more: Mitie to continue managing Lloyds [...]
General Election 2019: Conservatives go head-to-head with Labour on housing November 21, 2019 The Conservatives are hoping to take Labour head-on with a series of pledges designed to tackle the housing crisis. Jeremy Corbyn will today unveil a flagship policy that includes plans 100,000 council homes a year by the end of the five-year term, an increase of more than 3,500 per cent. Read more: Sadiq Khan to miss his [...]
HSBC investment banking boss to lose role in shake-up November 20, 2019 HSBC’s investment banking boss is reportedly set to be replaced as part of a shake-up under interim chief executive Noel Quinn. The lender’s head of global banking and markets Samir Assaf is to be moved to a non-executive role, according to the FT. Read more: Softbank in talks over KPMG’s private members club Assaf has [...]