Former Tory PM advisers call for government to spend big on coronavirus recovery July 6, 2020 A group of former economic advisers to a string of Tory prime ministers and chancellors have called for a swathe of jobs programmes and fiscal spending to aid the UK’s economic recovery. The group called for £30bn investment into high growth firms, a new retraining fund, a doubling of further education funding and tax reform. [...]
Rishi Sunak to announce £111m for traineeship programme July 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce next week that the government will provide £111m in funding to triple the number of 16-24 year old trainees in England. Sunak will use his summer economic statement on Wednesday to announce the extension of the programme, which will see participants receive maths, English and CV writing training in addition [...]
Government to announce £1.57bn support for UK arts and culture industries July 5, 2020 The UK’s arts, heritage and culture industries will benefit from a £1.57bn support package to protect them against the coronavirus downturn. Boris Johnson will announce the new package tomorrow, which will provide funding for thousands of galleries, museums, venues, theatres, historic palaces and independent cinemas. The package will include a £1.15bn pot of support for [...]
Rishi Sunak considers £500 hand out to every adult July 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering plans to hand £500 to every adult and £250 to every child in the country to spend on sectors worst affected by the coronavirus crisis. The plans, which have been drawn up by left-leaning think tank the Resolution Foundation, would see people handed vouchers to spend on sectors such as [...]
Johnson says he’s more optimistic than Barnier on post-Brexit trade deal July 3, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is more optimistic than European officials about the prospect of Britain securing a post-Brexit trade agreement, but said the UK could still leave the bloc without a deal if needed. Johnson said he was a bit more optimistic than chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier, who said this week that [...]
Rishi Sunak to make an announcement on jobs support next week, says PM July 3, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will make an announcement on the government’s coronavirus jobs support schemes next week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today. “You’ll be hearing more about what we’re going to do to support people next week from the chancellor Rishi Sunak,” he told LBC in response to a question about what would happen once [...]
UK PMI: Historic slump in private sector activity levelled off in June July 3, 2020 The historic slump in activity in the UK’s private sector levelled off last month as sections of the economy began to reopen following an easing of lockdown measures, new purchasing managers’ index (PMI) readings showed. The final IHS Markit composite PMI reading for last month came in at 47.7 — slightly higher than the flash [...]
Young people face economic ‘scarring’ from Covid, says top think tank July 3, 2020 The coronavirus recession has dealt a double blow to young people in the UK, who are more likely to have lost their jobs amid the lockdown and now face bleak career prospects, a leading think tank has warned. New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) today said the carnage in the hospitality and [...]
Covid Recovery Commission: FTSE 100 bosses unite to set UK economy back on track July 3, 2020 Some of the biggest names in UK business have teamed up to create a pressure group to ensure the economy emerges from coronavirus “stronger and fairer”, its members announced today. The group will be called the Covid Recovery Commission, and will involve the chairs of FTSE 100 powerhouses Tesco and Shell and the chief executives [...]
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds to renew calls for July budget July 2, 2020 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds will renew calls tomorrow for a July “back to work budget” in her first major set piece speech since being appointed to the role. She will urge chancellor Rishi Sunak to “recognise the scale of the challenge we face” and pledge a summer budget that focuses on “jobs, jobs, jobs”. Dodds, [...]