As Starmer dreams of Downing Street, beware of sweeping electoral reform September 29, 2022 Labour can finally start dreaming about being able to form a majority government at the next election. So it may seem odd timing for the party’s conference to endorse electoral reform for the first time in nearly a hundred years.
Kwarteng tells bank execs he is ‘working closely’ with BoE to calm markets September 28, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng has told a group of investment bank executives that he is “working closely” with the Bank of England to calm markets. The chancellor and City minister Andrew Griffith said during a roundtable that the government has a “clear commitment to fiscal discipline” and outlined coming post-Brexit changes to financial services regulations, according to [...]
London’s FTSE 100 dragged down by house builders as more rate hikes loom September 27, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 fell today driven lower by house builders tumbling on the prospect of higher interest rates. The capital’s premier index lost 0.52 per cent to drop to below 7,000 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, tumbled 2.36 per cent to [...]
House prices may tumble a fifth if Bank of England hikes rates steeply, economists warn September 27, 2022 House prices could tumble as much as 21 per cent if the Bank of England is forced to hike interest rates steeply in response to the government’s tax and borrowing splurge fuelling inflation, City economists have warned. Mortgage affordability – the ratio of a home purchase loan to the size of the borrower’s income – [...]
Pound slides after Bank of England bats away emergency rate hike pressure September 26, 2022 Sterling collapsed to an all time low this morning as investor confidence evaporated in the wake of the government’s plans to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing in a ‘mini-budget’ last week.
Attention turns to Starmer as Labour conference kicks off tomorrow September 24, 2022 Attention has turned to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as the party’s annual conference kicks off tomorrow. Taking place in Liverpool from Sunday until Wednesday, the conference will provide an opportunity for Starmer to assert himself as the next prime minister. Supporters hope Starmer will use the meeting to mark the stark divide between his [...]
Half of tax cuts in Kwarteng’s mini-budget will go to richest five per cent, Resolution Foundation claims September 23, 2022 Half of the Chancellor’s planned tax cuts will go to the richest five per cent of the country, a leading think-tank has said. In sharp criticism of today’s raft of new policies in the mini-budget, the Resolution Foundation hit out at Kwasi Kwarteng for having “blown the budget”. This comes after Kwarteng announced a tax [...]
Kwarteng makes permanent cut to stamp duty in a bid to drive growth September 23, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed stamp duty would be slashed from today in a bid to drive growth and boost confidence in the economy. Announcing his mini-budget, Kwarteng said: “Today’s statement is about growth. Home ownership is the most common route for people to own an asset, giving them a stake in the success of our economy [...]
Liz Truss cost of living support fails to prevent new consumer confidence low September 23, 2022 Liz Truss’s cost of living support has done nothing to lift Brits’ optimism out of the doldrums, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Consumer confidence collapsed five points over the last month to minus 49, the lowest since research firm GfK started tracking the figures in 1974. The survey was carried out between early [...]
Kwarteng vows ‘new era’ as he prepares to unveil tax-cutting mini-Budget September 22, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng will tomorrow outline the biggest package of UK tax cuts in more than 30 years as a part of the government’s bid to launch a Thatcherite economic revolution. The chancellor today confirmed he would axe this year’s 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance in tomorrow’s mini-Budget and he is expected to cancel [...]