Rain Newton-Smith interview: Go for growth to turbocharge economic resilience April 22, 2022 Everyone knows the dismal time the UK economy is in for over the coming year – but let’s recap. Living standards are scheduled to fall at the steepest rate in 66 years as a result of wages failing to keep pace with an average annual inflation rate of over seven per cent, according to the [...]
Two-in-five Brits now say they think that Rishi Sunak is ‘incompetent’ April 21, 2022 A new survey has revealed 40 per cent of Brits now think Rishi Sunak is “incompetent” – a 23 per cent increase from January. The YouGov poll also found that 38 per cent of Brits think the chancellor is “competent”, which is a 16 per cent drop from last year. It comes as Sunak’s public [...]
UK housing market shows signs of stability with Brits’ reluctant to spend April 21, 2022 The UK’s housing market could be returning to stability, say analysts, before deals pick up as warmer weather blankets the country. Residential transactions for March have plunged more than a third in comparison with the same month last year, according to the government’s latest figures, after a continued, pandemic-era, buying frenzy. Although deals have climbed [...]
Balancing the budget won’t win voters hooked on Sunak’s years of spending April 20, 2022 On a balmy September day eight years ago, Ed Miliband strode onto the stage at Labour Party Conference and proceeded to deliver a marathon 66-minute speech without notes. Unfortunately for the then Labour leader, he managed to forget a key chunk of his prepared remarks – the bit about tackling the deficit. Cue glee from [...]
Easter Reads part one: the best in our opinion pages on politics, the economy and Ukraine April 16, 2022 Back when partygate was “seemingly” subsiding, Giles Kenningham looked at another political headache for Johnson, one with a much longer legacy: the future of the Union. The pandemic gave a taste of greater independence to the devolved nations, and now some want to keep it – surely, that’s the case with Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon. To [...]
Sunak’s public popularity falls off a cliff as new poll reveals 24-point drop April 6, 2022 Rishi Sunak’s popularity has taken a mighty blow, with a new poll revealing that his approval rating has fallen by 24 points in the two weeks since his mini-budget. A YouGov poll has revealed that Sunak’s approval rating has dropped to -29 in the two weeks since his economic spring statement, which was widely criticised [...]
Asda chair hammers government for ‘tin eared’ response to cost of living crisis April 3, 2022 The government has delivered a “tin-eared and slow” response to the UK’s cost of living crisis, according to the chair of Asda. Tory peer Lord Stuart Rose said chancellor Rishi Sunak should put together a new package to ease the pain of soaring costs for households, adding that “the main problem that the government has [...]
What cost of living crisis? MPs give themselves a pay rise of nearly 3 per cent to £84,144 April 1, 2022 MPs’ salaries rise to £84,144 from today, up by 2.7 per cent, after the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) announced last month that their pay would go up for the first time in two years. But it comes on the same day that the biggest jump in domestic energy bills in living memory has come [...]
Bloody Friday as cost of living onslaught starts for millions: Steepest rise in household bills in living memory begins today April 1, 2022 Today has been dubbed National Price Hike Day, when government bodies and private firms traditionally announce the increases in the cost of goods and services. This year, energy costs are set to skyrocket, with the cheapest energy tariff for a medium user surging to £1,971 – a staggering 118 per cent increase year on year. The [...]
After an explosion of apps and billion dollar valuations, is the ultra-fast bubble about to burst? April 1, 2022 Any Londoner on a stroll down a main road in the city is bound to encounter a handful of instant grocery delivery riders zipping past. With Getir, Gorillas and Gopuff among other players on the scene, the category has exploded over the past couple of years with some receiving billion-dollar valuations. The pandemic saw many [...]