Keir Starmer tests positive for Covid again and will miss PMQs January 5, 2022 Sir Keir Starmer has tested positive for Covid-19 again and will miss today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner will instead step in for Starmer, after testing positive for the virus twice in just a matter of months. Starmer tested positive for Covid-19 just hours before Rishi Sunak’s October Budget, forcing him [...]
Sunak warns allies of limit to government help on surging energy prices January 5, 2022 Rishi Sunak has warned colleagues there is little the government can do to abate soaring energy prices as he mulls whether to slash VAT on energy bills. The chancellor has reportedly told other government ministers that any government help on the cost of living crunch should be targeted at those who need it most. The [...]
Energy chiefs urge government to step in to cool cost of living crisis January 3, 2022 Energy chiefs have called on the government to step in and ease the cost of living crisis looming over British households. The chief executive of Octopus Energy told Times Radio that unless the government intervened in the market, soaring gas prices will hit consumers hard. Greg Jackson said: “Unless action is taken, we will start [...]
MPs and peers urge Boris Johnson to scrap taxes on energy bills to reduce cost of living crisis January 2, 2022 Twenty Tory MPs and peers have called for the Prime Minister to scrap VAT and environmental levies on energy bills to ease the cost of living crisis.
100 Tory seats at risk: Voters abandon Boris Johnson en masse as Keir Starmer makes Red Wall comeback and leads nationwide January 2, 2022 A majority of Brits doubt Boris Johnson will be Prime Minister this time next year, as Keir Starmer has won voters’ hearts back in the Red Wall, according to a new poll. The Deltapoll survey of the 57 constituencies the Tories gained in the 2019 General Election, most of which could be considered part of [...]
UK house prices accelerate at fastest pace since before financial crisis December 30, 2021 UK house prices have accelerated at their fastest pace since before the financial crisis, shooting up over 10 per cent over the last year, reveal fresh figures released today. The cost of buying a home in Britain hit £254,822 this month, the highest price on record and up around £24,000 since December last year, according [...]
Best of the year: the business stories of 2021 December 29, 2021 Back in April, Credit Suisse got entangled in a “disaster pile-up” involving Greensill and Archegos. Eliot Wilson wrote of how the Swiss bank lost billions of dollars because of its relationship with the US based hedge fund Archegos and the now infamous Greensill Capital. This kind of economic catastrophe happens when banks have risk management [...]
Poverty looms for millions of UK families as energy bills climb by £1200, inflation rises and taxes jump 1.25 per cent in 2022 December 29, 2021 Soaring energy bills, inflation and rising taxes are likely to lead to a ‘cost of living catastrophe’ for millions of UK families, an economic think tank warned this morning. The Resolution Foundation (RF) said from next April families would typically face a £1,200-a-year hit to their incomes as the energy price cap is raised and [...]
Liz Truss frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader December 28, 2021 Foreign secretary Liz Truss has emerged as the frontrunner to succeed prime minister Boris Johnson among Conservative party leaders, a new poll has revealed. Truss, the former trade secretary until Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle in Septmber, has inched ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak, according to a Survey by Conservative Home. A little over 23 per cent [...]
2021 in review: Furlough is government’s big success story, but Rishi Sunak’s £69bn lifesaver comes at a price December 27, 2021 Furlough has become a household word in recent years. The scheme that protected the jobs of nearly nine million Britons at its peak has been hailed as the big success story of the Government’s Covid support measures as the jobs market rebounds at an impressive pace. The warnings of soaring joblessness that struck fear into [...]