Thousands of job losses expected as furlough scheme ends September 7, 2020 Thousands of workers will be made redundant when the government’s Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme scheme ends next month, according to the latest research. In total, 60 per cent of the UK’s medium-sized companies will cut jobs when the furlough scheme – which saw the government cover up to 80 per cent of the wages of [...]
Rishi Sunak plans to raise taxes now and cut them before next election September 6, 2020 Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning to raise taxes in the autumn budget with a view to cutting them just in time for the next General Election. Sunak met with Boris Johnson last week to plan the government’s fiscal response to the debt wracked up during the coronavirus crisis, with tax rises set to hit the [...]
Don’t be The Passenger: Iggy Pop’s classic Ferrari up for auction September 5, 2020 A Ferrari 308 GTS QV formerly owned by the Godfather of Punk will soon be for sale. And it seems this supercar was too quick for Iggy Pop...
DeFi: Borrowing and Lending Crypto Deserves Scrutiny and Caution September 4, 2020 Crypto lending and borrowing in booming but the important questions are still the same: who are the lenders, and who are the borrowers? Why do they engage in these transactions? What forces shape the market, and how do the players involved react to those forces? The bigger story when it comes to crypto-backed crypto lending [...]
Rishi Sunak must walk a tightrope on his pitch of Tory economic competence September 4, 2020 Yesterday Rishi Sunak was photographed carrying a note with the text of his address to the 1922 Committee. This was something we lived in constant fear of when I worked in No.11. One day I forgot to put a folder round a note I was carrying on our 2018 Budget ‘rabbit’ and subsequently spent the next six [...]
UK is world’s fifth largest exporter of tech services September 3, 2020 The number of tech exports from the UK have surged in the past year, making it one of the world’s largest exporter of technology services. Last year UK exports of technology services grew to £23.3bn, sitting behind just India, the US, China and Germany in the global rankings. Tech Nation’s ‘Unlocking Global Tech’ report published [...]
It’s time for the UK to set its financial services sector up for success September 3, 2020 With the Brexit transition period drawing to a close, the United Kingdom has a unique opportunity for legislative and regulatory reform. For our financial services sector, the Treasury’s review of the regulatory framework presents a fantastic chance to set the UK up for another decade of global leadership, in an international market that is fast-changing [...]
How dare the government turn on the self-employed now September 3, 2020 Twice this week, reports have emerged that the Treasury is considering drastic tax hikes on the self-employed: first, increases in corporation tax (hitting the UK’s 715,000 sole directors of limited companies), and second, the equalisation of self-employed and employee National Insurance Contributions. The justification? The support the self-employed got during coronavirus. Given how many people [...]
Lloyd’s of London opens its doors for the first time since March September 2, 2020 Lloyd’s of London has reopened its doors with enhanced safety measures after nearly six months of remote working. Employees returned to the office on Tuesday after months of insurance contract negotiations taking place online and over the phone. In June the insurer, which is one of the last face-to-face financial markets, announced plans to reopen [...]
Government urges firms to hire under-25s through free ‘kickstart’ scheme September 2, 2020 UK companies can offer six-month work placements to young people – with wages paid entirely by the government – under the “kickstart” scheme launched today. The government urged businesses to sign up and “take advantage of the enormous pool of potential out there”. It warned that young people “could otherwise be left behind as a [...]