Liberal Democrats secure coronavirus briefing with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey July 12, 2020 Liberal Democrat MPs will get a briefing from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey on Thursday in order to get a more “realistic” view of the British economy. The closed door meeting will give the party’s 11 MPs a chance to quiz the Bank of England boss about the UK’s economic recovery prospects and the [...]
Rishi Sunak eyes post-Brexit tax cuts for UK ‘freeports’ July 12, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will reportedly look to slash taxes and red tape to a cluster of cities and towns next year to provide a post-Brexit economic boom for Britain. The Sunday Telegraph reports that Sunak is drawing up plans to create 10 “freeports” in towns and cities across the UK where they will see sweeping [...]
Michael Gove annonuces £700m Brexit border force July 12, 2020 The government will spend £700m preparing the UK’s borders for Brexit as it begins a widespread information campaign to prepare businesses for next year. The funding is being spent on 500 new border guards, IT systems and essential infrastructure at Dover and other ports of entry as the UK prepares for the end of the [...]
Primark set to reject Treasury’s furlough bonus payment July 12, 2020 Primark will reportedly reject a £30m bonus handout unveiled in the Chancellor’s summer statement. The retailer has said it will not claim the £1,000 payment for every worker it brings back from furlough, according to the Sunday Times. Last night gambling firm William Hill also reportedly indicated it would also reject the furlough bonuses worth [...]
R rate could be as high as 1 in London and England July 10, 2020 England’s R rate could be as high as one, according to new government data published today. The UK’s R rate is estimated at between 0.7 and 0.9 but England’s rate stands higher, between 0.8 and one, according to Sage. The government’s group of science advisers estimated that London’s R rate is somewhere between 0.7 and [...]
UK government bond yields hit record low July 10, 2020 Short-dated UK government bond yields hit new lows today as unprecedented interventions from the Bank of England combined with economic uncertainty to boost the gilt market. The yield – which moves inversely to price – on the 2-year bond or gilt dropped to minus 0.122 per cent in morning trading before rebounding slightly. The yield [...]
Moody’s: UK to suffer worst crash of any big economy July 10, 2020 The UK will suffer the worst economic crash of any major economy this year, credit ratings agency Moody’s has predicted, with Brexit acting as a drag after the coronavirus crisis. Moody’s also said government debt as a share of national income will balloon by 24 percentage points compared to its 2019 level, two days after [...]
London house prices flatline amid coronavirus uncertainty July 10, 2020 London house prices stayed flat in the second quarter of this year as coronavirus took an uneven toll on the property market across the country, according to new figures. The Halifax house price index on Tuesday showed that UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June. That meant house prices [...]
Lockdown Generation: Without support, young people face a health crisis as well as an economic one July 10, 2020 What do you remember about your first job? The friends and connections you made? The skills you learned? The feeling of being able to support yourself financially? It is well known that all these factors can shape our career trajectories. That they are involved in shaping your future health outcomes and development is less widely [...]
The quiet crisis: IR35 and the UK’s forgotten freelancers July 10, 2020 In a crisis which has shaken so many aspects of our lives, it can be hard to get some issues heard above the noise. News that would once have made headlines seems to slip almost unnoticed under the radar. One such development was the quiet confirmation that changes to IR35 self-employed taxes will come into [...]