BBC to swallow licence fee freeze to buffer cost of living January 16, 2022 The BBC is set to swallow a two-year license fee freeze, which could see the broadcaster having to find savings of more than £2bn over the next six years. Ministers will unveil the plan this week, though it has been reported to be one of a number of announcements being tabled in Downing Street in [...]
Michael Gove has finally entered the cladding fray, but the fight isn’t over January 14, 2022 Among the political shambles of this week, something remarkable happened: someone stepped in to say a word or two about how to fix the cladding crisis. This someone was the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove. His intervention was met with relief that an issue which has languished on the [...]
Energy price crisis: What can the government do to protect the poorest households? January 13, 2022 City A.M. looks over some of Downing Street’s potential options to reduce the cost of energy bills for the UK's poorest households.
Expected 50 per cent hike in energy bills may trigger ‘devastating’ national emergency for millions of older Brits January 13, 2022 An anticipated price jump of about 50 per cent for energy bills across the country, likely from April onwards, can lead to a national emergency for millions of older people, a charity warned this morning. Age UK has urged ministers to take immediate and decisive action on energy bills to “mitigate the potentially devastating impact [...]
IFS: Poorest Brits to shoulder worst cost of living shock January 12, 2022 The poorest households in the UK are set to shoulder a harder hit from the cost of living crisis, reveals new analysis released yesterday. The rising cost of energy will erode a greater proportion of poorer households’ income compared to wealthier Brits, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Less wealthy Brits tend to [...]
Red hot inflation to burn £20bn hole in UK public coffers January 12, 2022 Red hot inflation sweeping throughout the UK is set to burn a £20bn hole in the country’s public finances, one of the City’s leading economists warned today. Britain’s intensifying cost of living crisis will erode Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s room for tax giveaways in the run up to the next election. A swelling interest bill triggered [...]
Near-four decade high US inflation print piles pressure on Federal Reserve to act January 12, 2022 Inflation in the US is roaring at the fastest rate since 1982, piling pressure on the Federal Reserve to act now to tame the soaring cost of living across the pond. Prices are seven per cent higher than they were a year ago in December, according to official statistics published by the US Bureau of [...]
UK households face biggest decline in available cash for eight years January 12, 2022 UK households are feeling the pinch as energy bills soar, the cost of living rises and Covid-19 restrictions continue to impact business.
Households in colder parts of country could receive heating support boost January 11, 2022 Families in colder areas of the country may receive more government financial support for heating costs this winter. The Treasury is reportedly mulling giving more cash to areas that are forced to use heating more, as energy bills have skyrocketed in recent months. The idea is being considered ahead of a package of measures to [...]
Rate lift off to boost Wall Street banks’ bottom lines this year as investors eye earnings season January 11, 2022 The US Federal Reserve flexing its inflation fighting muscles this year by hoisting interest rates rapidly is set to boost Wall Street banks’ bottom lines in 2022. The likes of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citi are in line to benefit from Fed chair Jerome Powell leading the fight against a spiralling cost of living across [...]