Tech giants summoned to Downing Street in coronavirus crackdown March 11, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has summoned major tech firms to Downing Street tonight as the government cracks down on misinformation about coronavirus. Executives from all big social media companies are set to attend the Tech CEO Round Table, where they will be asked to commit “data, assets and expertise” to the fight against the outbreak. [...]
Treasury deep-cleaned on eve of Budget after official’s partner tests positive for coronavirus March 11, 2020 The Treasury was deep cleaned last night on the eve of today’s Budget announcement after an official’s partner tested positive for coronavirus. Officials have been told they can work from home today, despite it being one of the biggest days in the fiscal calendar. The Treasury confirmed a Buzzfeed report that the unnamed official has [...]
Dignity shares plunge as it suspends dividend March 11, 2020 Funeral company Dignity’s shares plummeted today as it continued the suspension of its dividend following a 31 per cent drop in underlying pre-tax profit to £37.7m for 2019. That fell short of an expected £38.7m to send Dignity’s shares crashing 23 per cent to 385.8p. The UK’s only listed funeral provider said fewer people dying [...]
Rate cut reaction: Businesses welcome Bank of England emergency stimulus March 11, 2020 UK businesses, banks and academics have welcomed the Bank of England’s emergency interest rate cut and raft of other measures to support the economy as it slows amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Bank slashed rates to 0.25 per cent – the joint-lowest on record – at an emergency meeting this morning. It also offered banks [...]
Budget: Chancellor says coronavirus will be ‘front and centre’ as PM wishes minister speedy recovery March 11, 2020 This morning’s Cabinet meeting was dominated by a debate around coronavirus, after it emerged overnight that a health minister had tested positive. Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries, who is a health minister, revealed she had the disease but was “over the worst of it”. She raised concerns about her elderly mother who “began with the [...]
UK coronavirus: Seventh Brit dies as European cases surge March 11, 2020 A 53-year-old woman has become the seventh Brit to die after contracting coronavirus, the Foreign Office confirmed this morning. The woman died in Bali, according to Indonesia’s health ministry, marking the first death in the country linked to coronavirus. A spokesperson for the Indonesian government said the patient was already “critically ill” when she was [...]
COVID-19: potential tax responses in the UK Budget? March 11, 2020 The rapid development of cases of Covid-19 in the UK, and the disruption that this is causing in the UK and globally, may prompt the Chancellor to act in the Budget to help businesses or take powers to do so. So, what might the Chancellor do? Read more: UK interest rates slashed to battle coronavirus [...]
UK economy posted zero growth even before coronavirus March 11, 2020 The UK economy flatlined in January, data has shown, as industrial production contracted and the services sector struggled even before coronavirus spread in Britain. The zero growth figure was below analysts’ expectations of a 0.2 per cent expansion, and shows that the pick-up in confidence after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s December election win failed to [...]
Budget 2020: How Rishi Sunak will tackle coronavirus and hike spending March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to unveil the 2020 Budget today after the Bank of England’s shock move to slash UK interest rates. Just four weeks into the job, Sunak has spent the last 27 days planning to hike public spending. Record investment would see the government mark the end of austerity. But he is [...]
Coronavirus: Bank of England slashes UK interest rates to 0.25 per cent March 11, 2020 The Bank of England today slashed UK interest rates to just 0.25 per cent in a bid to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) cut takes interest rates lower than the 0.75 per cent they were already at, in a move designed to boost [...]