We need to hold our nerve on green levies as the energy crisis starts to bite March 11, 2022 Disruption in the energy markets is set to drive up bills for every family and business in Britain. With gas prices in the UK recently reaching an all-time high, the consumer impact will be profound. Millions of households are expected to see annual energy bills of £3,000, and many face fuel poverty in an escalating [...]
Supermarkets made hay from restrictions, now they need to consolidate to keep going March 11, 2022 THE rapid grocery delivery sector has grown at a staggering pace across Europe and the US. Two years on from when we first saw Getir, Weezy, Zapp and Gorillas advertised on buses and hoardings across London, data from the ONS revealed the average weekly sales of online groceries in December 2021 were £372m – more [...]
Brexit has dented Britain’s exports when we should be relaunching our global brand March 11, 2022 It is fair to say that this government is facing a myriad of challenges. Having pushed Brexit through and just about overcome the pandemic, the government is now facing war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis at home. On top of this, the structural challenges of “levelling up”, boosting growth, and making a success of [...]
Lib Dems call for £18bn cut to VAT to ease cost of living crunch March 10, 2022 The Liberal Democrats are calling for an £18bn VAT cut that would see the rate slashed from 20 to 17.5 per cent in a bid to ease the cost of living crunch on British households. The Lib Dems say the new policy proposal, released on the eve of the party’s spring conference, would save households [...]
Gas prices hit record levels this month reveals Office for National Statistics March 10, 2022 Gas prices soared 66 per cent in the week up to 6 March 2022 to record levels at 15.5p per kilowatt hour (kWH), according to the ONS.
Public willingness must match private money to break the housing deadlock March 10, 2022 ANY Londoner is painfully familiar with the number of rough sleepers. Some spots are focal points for make-shift “camps” of people; for example outside Warren Street station, there are often at least 25 homeless people. During the first year of the pandemic alone, 130,000 households were made homeless. With a cost of living crisis already [...]
UAE hints at supporting boost in oil supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine March 10, 2022 OPEC member United Arab Emirates called for more oil supplies to be pumped into the market yesterday amid fears of supply shortages.
Russia-Ukraine war to take tax cuts off the table, IFS warns March 10, 2022 Even higher inflation triggered by Russia invading Ukraine will take promised tax cuts off the table, a leading think tank warned today. Surging energy prices driven by concerns over the security of oil and gas supplies amid a ramping up in tensions between Moscow and the West will eat into Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s room to [...]
How stock markets perform after heavy falls March 9, 2022 While public attention has understandably focused on the grave humanitarian consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, global markets have reflected investors’ concerns about financial and economic impacts. Our live blog on the Ukraine crisis will be updated regularly throughout the week, it can be found here. To date the current crisis has seen major markets fall [...]
OPEC+ underperforms as politics weighs on oil output March 9, 2022 Oil prices remain elevated in a volatile market, with OPEC+'s performance under increasing scrutiny amid escalating conflict in Ukraine.