Pensions triple lock should not be kept ‘indefinitely’, says minister who introduced it January 18, 2025 The minister who first signed off on the pensions triple lock has suggested he thinks there is not a case for keeping the measure “indefinitely”. Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Steve Webb, who served as pensions minister in the coalition government, thinks there is still a case for keeping it now, and there is still “a pretty low state pension” [...]
Local elections will be ‘quite difficult’ for Tories, says Badenoch January 18, 2025 The Conservative leader has predicted that this year’s vote will be “very bad” for the Tories compared to votes four years ago.
IMF upgrades UK growth outlook after sluggish year January 17, 2025 UK economic growth is set to accelerate this year after it missed forecasts in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. The global economic body slightly upgraded its growth projection for the UK in a fresh update of its influential World Economic Outlook report. The IMF said UK gross domestic product (GDP) is on [...]
What is driving the FTSE 100 surge? January 17, 2025 The FTSE 100 has hit a new all-time high today, with the index within touching distance of 8,500 for the first time. Since the start of the week, London’s main index has grown almost three per cent, outperforming the Nasdaq, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones. The strong performance from the FTSE 100 came [...]
‘Here for the long haul’: Reeves defends her position after market turmoil January 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves has insisted she is “here for the long haul” as she defended her position as Chancellor in the wake of bond market turmoil and rising government borrowing costs. The UK’s Chancellor has faced criticism for embarking on a trip to China last weekend while government borrowing costs surged and the value of the [...]
Kemi Badenoch: Tories could means test state pension triple-lock January 17, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives could look at means testing the state pension triple-lock, in what would be a major policy shift. The Tory Party leader was asked during a phone-in on LBC Radio whether she would “look at” the triple-lock on the state pension, which sees the welfare benefit rise each year by [...]
Retail’s Christmas results don’t match up to the gloom in the market January 17, 2025 If you were to judge the health of the retail market solely from the last two weeks of festive trading results, you would think the market is in rude health. But that would be a significant departure from the actual sentiment in the market, which has taken on a sense of almost unrelenting gloom in [...]
FTSE 100 hits all-time high as investors bet on interest rate cuts January 17, 2025 The FTSE 100 has hit a new all-time high this morning, surpassing the previous peaks it reached in spring last year, as investors ramp up their bets on an interest rate cut by the Bank of England next month. The value of London’s 100 largest listed companies has grown 3.2 per cent in the last [...]
Ofcom cracks down on inflation-linked price hikes January 17, 2025 Telecoms providers must set out upfront price rises that will apply to customer contracts to protect consumers from uncertain and volatile inflation. From today, Ofcom will require any price rises linked to future inflation to be clearly written into a customer’s contract at the point of sale. Many leading phone, TV and broadband firms already [...]
‘Student Tax’ to hit graduates on minimum wage by April January 16, 2025 Thousands of graduates will find themselves stranded in their home town, unable to root out professional opportunities, when April’s hike in the minimum wage drags them into the threshold of student loan repayments, a top financial services firm has warned. The government announced an above inflation rise in the National Living Wage of 5.6 per [...]