UK mortgage lending rises in July as housing market picks up post-lockdown September 1, 2020 UK mortgage lending accelerated in July, a latest sign of a post-lockdown bounce-back in the housing market, and consumers returned to borrowing, data from the Bank of England showed today. Mortgage approvals jumped to 66,300 from just under 40,000 in June and seven times higher than their coronavirus pandemic low of barely more than 9,000 [...]
Coronavirus: Government begins to wind down furlough scheme September 1, 2020 Companies using the coronavirus furlough scheme will now have to contribute to workers’ wages as the government begins to wind down its emergency support. The job retention scheme, introduced in March, has paid 80 per cent of salaries for workers on temporary leave, capped at £2,500 per month. From today this will be reduced to [...]
Labour draws level with the Conservatives in new polling August 30, 2020 Labour has clawed back a 26-point poll deficit to draw level with the Conservatives, after a number of policy U-turns and PR disasters for Boris Johnson’s government. New polling from Opinium/The Observer has Labour and the Tories at 40 per cent of the vote, just five months after Johnson had given his party a 26-point [...]
Rishi Sunak considers £30bn in post-Covid tax hikes August 30, 2020 Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to implement £30bn in tax rises to plug the budget black hole left by the government’s coronavirus response. The measures reportedly under consideration include raising corporation tax and capital gains tax, breaking the pension triple lock guarantee and cutting foreign aid. The Sunday Times reports that this would include [...]
Could AI help Rishi Sunak revive the UK economy? August 29, 2020 This was once meant to be the year the government balanced the books, a literal pay off for years of tight purse strings under George Osborne’s austerity programme. Instead, 2020 has seen government debt balloon to over £2 trillion. The coronavirus pandemic has meant UK spending has rocketed far beyond any previous peacetime records, leaving [...]
Coronavirus: Government to launch back-to-work campaign August 28, 2020 Brits will be encouraged to get back to the office as part of a new government campaign set to launch next week. The campaign will promote the advantages of returning to work and seek to reassure employees about the safety measures being taken to halt the spread of the virus. The productivity push, which will [...]
Deliveroo launches Eat In to Help Out discount for September August 27, 2020 Deliveroo has launched an Eat In to Help Out offer for September as the government’s dine-in discount scheme comes to an end this month. The food delivery firm will offer customers £5 off orders on Monday to Wednesday next month in a bid to support local restaurants. Deliveroo will fund the discount for the more [...]
Service sector employment fell sharply in last quarter as UK entered recession August 27, 2020 Employment fell sharply across the UK services sector in the three months up to August as the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into the deepest recession on record. The service sector dominates the business landscape in this country, making up nearly 80 per cent of the economy. According to a survey conducted by the CBI, [...]
Germany extends job-support scheme – contrasting with UK’s approach August 26, 2020 Germany has extended its job-support programme that subsidises workers’ wages at coronavirus-hit firms until the end of 2021 in a bid to support its economy. The move contrasts sharply with the UK’s approach. British chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged to end the country’s “furlough” scheme in October. Germany’s scheme, known as “short-time work” or “Kurzarbeit”, [...]
Virgin Atlantic creditors back crunch £1.2bn bailout deal August 25, 2020 An overwhelming majority of Virgin Atlantic’s creditors have this afternoon approved the embattled airline’s £1.2bn bailout package, a critical step in ensuring the carrier’s survival. In a statement, the carrier said that all four of its creditor classes had voted in favour of the proposal. The vote marks a huge step forward in Virgin’s bid [...]