Rishi Sunak set to announce £5bn defence spending boost during AUKUS summit March 12, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £5bn boost to defence spending during a key summit on the US-UK-Australia nuclear submarine deal. Sunak flew to San Diego on Sunday to attend a trilateral meeting with US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. It’s hoped Albanese will announce Australia is purchasing [...]
‘Down to the wire’: Treasury and Bank scramble for Silicon Valley Bank UK package March 12, 2023 Treasury and Bank of England officials are locked in discussions over the future of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) UK arm – with leading tech figures across London suggesting the bank’s collapse could be an extinction-level event for thousands of firms. The UK-owned subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank was placed into insolvency earlier this evening, with [...]
Hunt reportedly set to retain SMEs 19 per cent tax rate amid fears for tech March 12, 2023 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are set to hold on to the 19 per cent rate of company tax amid concerns for the future of the UK’s tech sector, the Mail has reported. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will hand small and medium businesses major tax breaks to boost investment in the spring statement this week, [...]
Does the BBC’s Gary Lineker row show that the government has a problem with football? March 12, 2023 The weather forecast finished and then suddenly there it was: the BBC’s hurried replacement for Match of the Day following its spectacular bungling of the Gary Lineker row. Shorn of its theme tune, opening title, studio, presenter, pundits, commentators and about an hour of running time, this was bleak and surreal; a sort of post-apocalyptic [...]
Silicon Valley Bank: ‘Serious risk’ to UK tech and life sciences, Jeremy Hunt warns March 12, 2023 The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) poses a “serious risk” to the UK’s tech and life sciences sectors, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned. Ministers have said urgent plans to protect businesses from the fallout are being drawn up. Talks between Hunt, prime minister Rishi Sunak and Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey [...]
Sunak and Macron strike deal: Britain to pay France £500m in bid stop small boat Channel crossings March 10, 2023 Britain will pay France nearly half a billion pounds over the next three years to step up efforts to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel, Rishi Sunak has announced. The Prime Minister committed to sending Paris £478 million (541 million euro) to fund a new detention centre in France and hundreds of extra French [...]
Start-up tax pain could scupper Rishi Sunak’s science superpower dreams, investors warn March 10, 2023 Further tax pain inflicted on the UK’s start-ups could scupper Rishi Sunak’s tech and science superpower plans, venture capital firms have warned. The warning comes as Jeremy Hunt prepares to announce his first full budget next week. Start-ups have piled pressure on Hunt to reverse changes to research and development tax credits announced in the [...]
Over 50s aren’t staying out of work because they’re sick – it’s because they’re rich March 10, 2023 Britain’s stagnant workforce, with 270,000 economically inactive over 50s, is keeping our productivity down. But to get them back in the labour market, we need to let them stay out of the office, writes Ben Cope.
Government plans to delay HS2 will cost the UK more in the long term, London business group warns March 9, 2023 Delaying the construction of HS2 to save money will cost the UK more in the long term, a London business group has warned after reports the government is set to announce further delays to the already over budget and overdue project. “Delaying construction of HS2 to save money is a false economy. Failing to invest [...]
Former Shell boss Ben van Beurden raked in £9.7m paypacket last year as profits soared March 9, 2023 The former Shell boss enjoyed a hefty bump-up in his paypacket last year, before leaving the energy giant in January.