Labour is a ‘low tax party’, claims senior shadow minster October 14, 2021 Labour is now the UK’s “low tax party” after a series of tax hikes by the government, according to shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth. Ashworth said that Rishi Sunak’s They’ve just put up tax, haven’t they, just imposed a tax rise on everybody and yet they don’t seem to have given a fair allocation of [...]
Chancellor plays down hope of loans to struggling businesses October 14, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has dampened yesterday’s hopes that the government will rescue struggling businesses facing soaring energy prices. Without going into specifics, he said that he believes in a market economy and that it is “not the government’s job to come in and start managing the price of every individual product.” His comments to Sky [...]
Exclusive: UK set to keep EU cap on bankers’ bonuses post-Brexit October 14, 2021 The UK is set to keep the EU’s cap on bankers’ bonuses, with the Treasury instead focussed on a range of other measures to shake up financial services regulation post-Brexit. Treasury sources say the measure is not even being discussed by chancellor Rishi Sunak and that it will not be scrapped any time soon. The [...]
Sunak deaf to industry calls to overhaul business rates October 14, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ignored calls from industry chiefs to shake up the business rate regime at the next budget. According to The Telegraph, government plans to overhaul the business rate system have been “thrown into the long grass”. The Chancellor has not had enough time to consider the effects of wholesale changes to the [...]
Pension savers fear higher fees as Sunak eyes extra infrastructure cash October 14, 2021 Ministers are reportedly mulling a decision to dilute the 0.75 per cent cap on annual management fees, which would leave UK retirement savers vulnerable to high charges. The cap, put in place in 2016, protects employees who are auto-enrolled into their pensions from having their retirement pot eaten into by higher charges. It comes as [...]
Tax hikes to derail UK economy at the final hurdle October 14, 2021 Imposing punitive tax hikes on businesses will blow the UK economic recovery off course just as it is in touching distance of reaching pre-pandemic strength. That’s the warning to Chancellor Rishi Sunak from economists and industry leaders after data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Britain is inches away from full repair. “Our [...]
Top industry brass press Sunak on business rates overhaul October 14, 2021 The UK’s top business groups who represent over 9m workers are pressing Chancellor Rishi Sunak to overhaul the business rates regime. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), alongside 41 trade associations acting on behalf of 261,000 businesses, have called on Sunak to reduce the burden of business rates on firms at this month’s budget to [...]
Sunak tells Brits not to worry: There will be a ‘good amount’ of Christmas presents October 14, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told Brits not to worry about their Christmas presents this year, saying there will be a “good amount of presents available” even though supply chain issues continue to persist. Sunak was speaking after meeting with finance ministers from the G7 group of leading world economies to talk about the problem, with [...]
UK economy returns to growth in August amid staycation boom October 13, 2021 The UK economy returned to growth amid a boom in staycation spending and Brits making the most of an easing in self-isolation rules by rushing to pubs, bars and restaurants. The economy expanded 0.4 per cent in August, a resumption to growth after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) marked down July’s figure to minus [...]
Sunak causes rift with Cabinet over EV discount end October 13, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly in a row with other Cabinet members – including transport secretary Grant Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – over his proposed plans to cut grants for buying electric vehicles (EV). As reported by the Telegraph, the Treasury is expected to slash the grants – which amount to £2,500 for [...]