Hunt confirms full fat budget and OBR forecast on 15 March 2023 December 19, 2022 The government will deliver a full fat budget on 15 March next year, chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed today. The announcement will be accompanied by an assessment of the impact of the government’s tax and spending plans on the public finances by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Last month, Hunt delivered what was in effect [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Ambulance strikes add further pressure on a strained system December 19, 2022 Amidst the chaos of the strikes rocking Britain, ambulance workers will join the walkouts this week, in what is expected to be the most disruptive wave of strikes so far. They will take place this Wednesday and again on the 28th of December. Health bosses have defined these strikes as the biggest danger to patients. [...]
The Labour Party has yet to find a compelling answer to the winter of strikes December 19, 2022 What we’re witnessing now reads like something from the political history section of an A-level history book. Welcome the widespread strikes, including in the public sector, a government struggling to manage a difficult economy, a charismatic union boss and a prime minister conscious of approaching elections but still hoping for an upswing in his fortunes. [...]
Rishi Sunak to extend energy bill support for all businesses December 18, 2022 All British businesses are set to benefit from an extension of the government’s energy support package for up to 12 months. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to sign-off on the extension, however it is expected that most businesses will be given a smaller discount on their energy bills from April. The Sunday Times reports [...]
Sunak bins Truss’s Energy Supply Taskforce after just three months December 18, 2022 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped a taskforce launched by his predecessor to shore up the UK’s energy security by striking a series of long-term deals with gas suppliers. The Energy Supply Taskforce, announced by Liz Truss towards the beginning of her short tenure in No 10 as part of a package of measures to [...]
Liz Truss, Bill Hwang and Elon Musk: The 2022 awards you don’t want to win December 18, 2022 We started the year with Boris Johnson in Downing Street and optimism for a Covid-19 rebound. It didn’t quite turn out that way – and here’s our pick of the best of the best (or worst of the worst) of 2022… THE MUM OF THE YEAR AWARD This year hasn’t been smooth sailing for e-commerce retail [...]
Dowden says ‘our door always open’ to striking unions December 18, 2022 A senior minister has insisted that “our door is always open” to union bosses, despite refusing to engage in pay negotiations with striking nurses. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said today that “we’re always willing to talk” with the Royal College of Nurses (RCN), but that its 19 per cent pay increase demand is “not [...]
Rishi Sunak: Rail workers tired of being ‘foot soldiers’ in RMT’s ‘class war’ December 18, 2022 Rail workers are tired of being “foot soldiers” in the union RMT’s “class war,” according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The PM said the deals offered to both railway staff and Border Force workers have been “fair” and yet “affordable to taxpayers.” “An increasing number of union members want a deal,” Sunak wrote in The [...]
Tech start-ups tell No10 they will lose £1b if rebate cuts go ahead December 15, 2022 A number of UK based start-ups have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, requesting that he rethink the slashed rebates for small and medium businesses. The government’s Autumn statement has limited the tax credits available to mid level companies in a bid to increase rebates available to larger businesses. According to tech start-ups this will [...]
No10 confirms strike-busting bill paused as ministers look to broaden scope December 15, 2022 No10 has confirmed that its bill on guaranteeing minimum service levels during strike days is being paused as ministers look to broaden its scope. “Essentially we’ve paused that bill and are looking at adding additional measures to it to widen its scope,” said the Prime Minister’s spokesperson. “We haven’t set out exactly the scope of [...]