UK government borrowing could overshoot forecasts by £7.5bn this year owing to Brexit and reduced tax revenues November 20, 2016 UK government borrowing could overshoot forecasts by as much as £7.5bn this year, as reduced tax revenues and the vote to quit the European Union threaten to leave chancellor Philip Hammond with less room for manoeuvre in his first Autumn Statement on Wednesday. The Office for Budget Responsibility could be in line to slash its [...]
An Inspector Calls at the Playhouse theatre: good, cosy fun, but lacking spleen November 17, 2016 An Inspector Calls returns once again to the London stage. A whodunnit in which a police officer investigates the causes of a young woman’s suicide should be an excoriating critique of the indifference of the upper-middle classes, but here it is repackaged as cosy entertainment for the descendants of the very people it originally sought [...]
Senior government officials are considering quitting because there’s no ‘clear’ Brexit plan November 17, 2016 London — The British government's lack of a clear Brexit plan is prompting senior officials to think about quitting, according to the former head of the Foreign Office in Britain, Sir Simon Fraser. Sir Simon said during a House of Commons Committee hearing that "civil servants don’t feel they have clear political direction at the moment," [...]
Cafe culture nudges Eurozone inflation higher in October November 17, 2016 Eurozone annual inflation rose to 0.5 per cent in October, driven by contributions from spending in restaurants and cafes. Up by 0.1 per cent compared with September, six of the member states recorded annual rates below zero – better known as deflation. Inflation rose in 21 EU states, which was enough to raise inflation across the region [...]
An ex-White House adviser and two banking bosses have been recruited to join Liam Fox’s trade ministry November 17, 2016 A former adviser to George W. Bush and two senior bankers have been recruited to advise Liam Fox's trade ministry, following former IoD director general Simon Walker. Walker's appointment emerged last month, but now City A.M. can reveal three further non-exec hires at the government department. Former Bush adviser and economist Pippa Malmgren leads the [...]
The government must get serious about simplifying Britain’s complex tax laws November 16, 2016 With British business awash with Brexit uncertainty, it has never been more important for the government to simplify our complicated tax system. The UK tax code is now more than 20,000 pages long. It’s made up of over 1,000 tax reliefs and exemptions. At around 10m words, it is 12 times the length of the [...]
Rolls-Royce shares dip despite success in cost-cutting turnaround plan November 16, 2016 Rolls-Royce's share price dropped today despite the group saying its huge cost-cutting drive is likely to be at the top end of its targeted range. The manufacturing giant is one year in to a turnaround programme to reset its finances after posting five consecutive profit warnings in the 20 months leading to November 2015. In [...]
British Land posts a loss as Brexit vote hits asset values November 16, 2016 British Land's share price fell in morning trading after the company posted a loss due to the Brexit vote hitting UK commercial property prices. The figures The company behind the "Cheesegrater" announced a loss of £205m in the six months to the end of October as compared to the same period last year, down from £823m [...]
ABN Amro is cutting 1,500 jobs in new cost-saving plans – despite reporting a rise in profits November 16, 2016 Dutch lender ABN Amro has announced plans to cut 1,500 jobs as part of new cost-saving plans, despite reporting a hike in profit during the third quarter of 2016. The bank, which has offices in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Haywards Heath, Leeds and Manchester, posted a 19 per cent year-on-year increase in underlying net profit for [...]
Big Four audit giant dragged into Brexit row November 15, 2016 Number 10 has today scrambled to distance itself from the details of a leaked memo which warned government was lagging behind on its Brexit plans. The leaked document, which was produced by professional services giant Deloitte and obtained by the Times, claimed government may need to take on as many as 30,000 additional staff members [...]