How badly will the UK unemployment rate spike when furlough ends? July 22, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme has so far saved the UK unemployment rate from sharp increases during the coronavirus lockdown, but it is drawing to an end. Consequently job losses are set to spike after furlough concludes in October, according to economists. Currently the government is paying 80 per cent of over 9m British workers’ [...]
Qatar Airways sues Arab states for $5bn over airspace blockade July 22, 2020 Qatar Airways is seeking $5bn in compensation from four Arab states which have prevented it from using their airspace since 2017. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have since June that year implemented an air, sea and land blockade on the Gulf nation over accusations that it supports terrorist activity. Qatar denies the claims, [...]
Global airlines join forces to call for restart to transatlantic flights July 22, 2020 A number of the world’s largest airlines have come together to call for a joint coronavirus testing programme between the EU and US to get transatlantic air travel going again. In a letter to US vice president Mike Pence and EU commissioner for home affairs Ylva Johansson, airline executives asked for “the safe and swift [...]
Boris Johnson unveils £350m to fuel decarbonisation of industry July 21, 2020 Boris Johnson has unveiled £350m in funding to help industry to reduce carbon emissions in a bid to speed up progress towards the UK’s 2050 net zero goal. The funding will go to a range of businesses and projects working across industries such as heavy industry, construction, space and transport. Johnson said that the coronavirus [...]
Rishi Sunak launches spending review and warns of ‘tough choices’ July 21, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that “tough choices” will have to be made over government spending from 2021 onwards as he launched a comprehensive review of public sector budgets. The spending review comes as Sunak revises the overall spending plans made in the March Budget to reflect the huge impact coronavirus has had on the [...]
Tory MPs vote against protecting the NHS from a post-Brexit trade deal July 21, 2020 Tory MPs last night voted down an amendment to the government’s Trade Bill intended to protect the NHS from any form of control from outside the UK, in a major blow to Britain’s health service as it grapples with the aftermath of the pandemic. Labour proposed an amendment to the Trade Bill which would have [...]
Small companies slam plans for big Making Tax Digital extension July 21, 2020 Small businesses have slammed the government’s planned expansion of the Making Tax Digital programme, saying it means more cost and paperwork for companies at a time when they are under great pressure. The government today said it will extend its tax digitisation programme to 4.7m of the UK’s smallest companies and self-employed workers from April [...]
New Thames Estuary development plan could add £115bn to UK economy July 21, 2020 The Thames Estuary growth board has today launched a new development initiative that could add up to £115bn to the UK economy. Named the “Green Blue”, the scheme comprises 30 individual projects in the south-east, with the potential to create 1.5m jobs. These include infrastructure developments such as the Lower Thames Crossing, as well as [...]
McDonald’s to open 700 restaurants for dine-in from tomorrow July 21, 2020 McDonald’s is preparing to reopen hundreds of UK restaurants for dine-in customers for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began in March. The fast food chain said 700 UK branches will reopen from tomorrow following successful pilots. Ramped up social distancing measures will be in place and diners will also be required to leave [...]
House sales begin to recover as lockdown measures ease July 21, 2020 UK property transactions grew almost a third in the month to June as lockdown measures began to lift around the country, but remain 35 per cent down since last year as market uncertainty and the Brexit deadline continue to weigh on buyer sentiment. Around 63,250 residential property transactions took place in June, up 31.7 per [...]