Brace for rate hikes and tapering from BoE and Fed November 3, 2021 Just as the dust settled on Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s third budget, the City turned its attention to more set piece economic announcements. Today and tomorrow, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England will deliver two of the most hotly awaited interest rate decisions in years. The latter is expected to hike interest rates [...]
Sunak hails avoiding joblessness spike after furlough end November 2, 2021 The end of the furlough scheme is unlikely to trigger a surge in unemployment, according to the Chancellor. Speaking to a committee of members of the House of Lords, Rishi Sunak said he was “optimistic” the end of the job support scheme would not result in a wave of job losses. There were concerns the [...]
Cop26: Sunak to force all UK financial firms to publish net-zero transition plans November 2, 2021 The UK’s financial institutions and listed firms will soon have to publish strategies on how they will transition to net-zero by 2050 as Rishi Sunak today unveiled his plan to make Britain the world’s first “net-zero financial centre”. The chancellor today said great efforts have been made to “rewire the entire global financial system for net [...]
A fallen tree on a railway scuppered Cop26 travel plans – and that was the high point November 2, 2021 Cop26, billed as our last chance to save humanity, went very well. Within hours of wandering into the summit, borrowing a phrase from Greta Thunberg, comparing himself to James Bond, and reminding cows, once again, that they really shouldn’t burp, Boris Johnson saved the world, repaired tense relations with Europe, put the French and the [...]
London is failing to make itself more accessible for those with disabilities November 2, 2021 Children with special education needs and disabilities were given a slice of Rishi Sunak’s spending spree last week, with £2.6bn set to be spent on things like more accessible classrooms. The current disability pay gap is 19.6 per cent. So focusing our energies where the cracks begin to emerge is a no brainer. But for [...]
The age of Brexit Blairism: Rishi Sunak bet his budget on New Labour’s success November 2, 2021 Last week, while many in Westminster were gripped to the BBC’s ode to New Labour, the Blair & Brown documentary, Boris Johnson seemed to take it literally. His boosterism has finally defeated Treasury orthodoxy. As such, this is a very different Conservative Government to the ones in the last decade. It is one that will [...]
The age of Brexit Blairism: Rishi Sunak bet his budget on New Labour’s success – CityAM : CityAM November 2, 2021 Last week, while many in Westminster were gripped to the BBC’s ode to New Labour, the Blair & Brown documentary, Boris Johnson seemed to take it literally. His boosterism has finally defeated Treasury orthodoxy. As such, this is a very different Conservative Government to the ones in the last decade. It is one that will [...]
Sunak comes out fighting in defence of tax hikes and spending spree November 1, 2021 Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended his decision to swell the tax burden to its highest level in decades. Responding to a grilling from fellow MPs on the Treasury Committee, Sunak said last week’s bumper budget spending spree was designed to deliver on a “bunch of commitments” the government promised to achieve. The Chancellor’s decision [...]
Close trade ties with India will give us leverage to claim climate wins October 29, 2021 International trade and climate change are two of the most vexing global policy conundrums. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that we are at a final catalyst: human activity is damaging every region across the world, at an unprecedented rate. World leaders must accelerate comprehensive action working to minimise damage to the [...]
A new dawn of cryptocurrency is forcing us to re-evaluate our faith in our institutions of state October 29, 2021 Talking about a revolution, as Tracy Chapman reminded us, isn’t new. For many years, many have. But we only ever know we’ve lived through when we look back. Today, the writing is on the walls for a moment of fundamental change. Over the last week we’ve seen Bitcoin and Ethereum hit historic highs while take [...]