Brexit: UK ‘will not back down’ on fisheries policy October 28, 2020 The UK will not back down on its demands to the EU over fisheries in Brexit trade talks, Michael Gove has said, as the two sides hold crunch talks today in the hopes of hammering out a last-minute trade deal. Responding to concerns set out by Jeremy Miles, the Welsh minister for European transition, Gove [...]
Exclusive: MPs call for clarity on Bounce Back Loan replacement as lenders shut door on SMEs October 28, 2020 An influential group of cross-party MPs has called for the government to replace the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) as soon as possible after lenders shut the door on new applicants for the state-backed coronavirus funding. All but one of the 28 banks eligible to lend money under the scheme have closed to new customers, [...]
Rush to beat stamp duty rise sees UK house prices jump again October 28, 2020 The stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand have led to a stampede into the housing market, with 140,000 more buyers currently waiting to complete their property transactions than a year earlier, according to a new report. The high demand saw UK house prices jump again in September by three per cent year on year, the [...]
Majority of London offices cancel Christmas parties in face of new restrictions October 28, 2020 Almost all London offices have parked the tinsel and cancelled their Christmas parties this year, according to new research, as the capital faces a bleak festive season under Tier 2 restrictions. More than 95 per cent of London businesses have cancelled bookings for traditional office parties this Christmas, after the capital’s move to “high” alert [...]
Forget the polls endorsing lockdowns and look at how people actually behave October 28, 2020 Economics is at long last storming the bastions of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). This citadel of epidemiologists and health professionals has for many months resisted the lessons which the so-called gloomy science can bring. In the context of Covid-19, economics is in fact a beacon of hope. This week, news broke of [...]
Too harsh or too generous? Rishi Sunak walks the job support tightrope October 27, 2020 Last Thursday, the chancellor gave his third economic statement in a month — U-turning on plans to replace the furlough scheme with a far less generous new Job Support Scheme (JSS) at the end of October. Instead, the JSS will now offer a level of government support almost as generous as that provided by the [...]
More than 50 Tory MPs lash out at local lockdown restrictions October 27, 2020 More than 50 Tory MPs have lashed out at the Prime Minister, warning that Northern constituencies risk being left behind unless there is a clear strategy for leaving local lockdown restrictions. MPs from parts of England currently under Tier 3 restrictions have written to Boris Johnson to warn him that his “leveling up” agenda risks [...]
Modern Monetary Theory: A shared delusion that will destroy the economy October 27, 2020 As Rishi Sunak announced another multi-billion-pound support package last week, most numerate people would have been boggling at the numbers. How are we ever going to pay all that money back? Surely it means years of austerity, high taxes, or debt for our children and grandchildren to repay? But there is a growing and increasingly [...]
Sunak spars with education secretary in free school meals row October 26, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak locked heads with the education secretary today as both ministers attempted to shirk the blame for the government’s decision not to extend free school meals throughout the October half-term. Sunak rebutted claims made in the Sun on Sunday yesterday that the Treasury had “parked the bus” on providing free school meal vouchers [...]
Could your savings save the planet? October 26, 2020 When Covid-19 upended our lives in March, Rishi Sunak became the hero of the hour by emptying the Treasury’s coffers to support the jobless and keep our economy afloat. It was the kind of quick-thinking fiscal response our country needed at a time of crisis — similar to the Treasury’s bank bailouts in 2008. But [...]