JD Wetherspoon to hike meal prices 50p ahead of VAT increase September 15, 2021 Pub giant JD Wetherspoon has said it will have to increase prices of meals by 50p later this month because of a VAT increase. Prices of meals at the pub group will go up on Wednesday September 29, ahead of VAT rising to 12.5 per cent on Friday October 1. The group will slash the [...]
Sunak: Private equity raid on UK businesses ‘good news’ for economy September 14, 2021 Foreign investment firms’ recent surge of interest in British listed companies is a “sign of confidence” in the UK economy, chancellor Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday, while also touting British fintech and life sciences companies as “globally best in class.” On the same day that Clayton, Dubilier & Rice cemented its pole position in a [...]
UK unemployment rate falls amid August hiring spree September 14, 2021 The UK unemployment rate fell 0.3 per cent in the last quarter as businesses continued on a hiring spree to keep pace with the economic recovery from the pandemic. According to the Office of National Statistics, the unemployment rate now stands at 4.6 per cent, in line with economists’ forecasts. The fall was powered by [...]
Rishi Sunak hopes insurers could help fund social care costs September 11, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told Treasury officials to start talks with the insurance industry over potential new products to help finance social care costs, a treasury source said, according to reports. The news follows plans set out earlier this week by the Prime Minister to raise taxes on workers, employers and some investors in an [...]
Self-isolation nation: Recovery sluggish as GDP climbs 0.1 per cent in July September 10, 2021 The UK economy grew just 0.1 per cent in July as the post-Covid recovery continued to slow. New official figures released this morning showed a significant fall from June’s one per cent growth, with the economy still 2.1 per cent below its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak remained positive [...]
Number of workers on furlough tumbles to lowest level since start of pandemic September 9, 2021 The number of workers on furlough has tumbled to its lowest since the onset of the Covid crisis, according to official figures published today. Data from the Treasury shows there were 1.6m people on furlough at the end of July, down 340,000 from almost two million in the previous month. However, the rate at which [...]
Boris Johnson refuses to rule out new tax rises before next election September 7, 2021 Boris Johnson has said he has an “emotional commitment” to not hiking tax again before the next election, but refused to rule it out just hours after increasing National Insurance and dividend tax. Johnson refused at today’s press conference on three occasions to promise he would not raise taxes again, commenting only that “I certainly [...]
PM hikes National Insurance and dividends tax by 1.25 per cent to pay for NHS and social care reform September 7, 2021 Britons will be hit with £12bn-a-year tax rises to pay for increases in NHS and social care spending, with National Insurance and dividends tax in Boris Johnson’s crosshairs. A new Health and Social Care Levy will effectively hike National Insurance Contributions for employees and employers by 1.25 per cent from April 2022, while taxes on [...]
Government breaches another manifesto pledge by denying full triple lock uplift September 7, 2021 The government has breached another manifesto pledge and scrapped the normal functioning of the state pension triple lock, it announced today. In a statement delivered to the House of Commons today, secretary of state for work and pensions Thérèse Coffey announced the government will employ a triple lock lite, denying millions of pensioners an uplift [...]
Johnson to defy Tory MPs and launch £10bn-a-year tax hike to fund social care and NHS September 7, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson will defy a revolt among Tory MPs and scathing criticism and plough on with a hike to national insurance to generate more than £10bn a year to tackle the swelling backlog of NHS work and fix the UK’s ailing social care system. Johnson will today announce an at least one percentage [...]