Spring budget: Back to work, childcare and post Brexit customs – what do we know so far? March 13, 2023 This Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will stand on the steps of No11 Downing Street – holding the famous Budget 2023 red box. Of his five predecessors, just Rishi Sunak was even in post long enough to reach this point. Political turmoil aside, his spring statement will also follow months of financial chaos, after economic shocks [...]
London economy steams ahead to top UK growth league and on track to avoid recession March 13, 2023 London’s economy is racing ahead of the rest of the UK and is on track to power the country’s GDP out of its current slump, new figures out today show. The capital’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) shot up to 56 points last month, up sharply from 50.5 points and far above the 50 point threshold [...]
Recession kicked into long grass as UK steams ahead of Europe and US March 13, 2023 A recession hitting the UK economy is looking like an increasingly far flung prospect after yet more data today shows businesses and families are fending off the cost of living crunch. A net balance of 43 per cent of UK businesses are buoyant about the economy over the coming year, the highest level in a [...]
Stop blaming bad weather for empty shelves, it’s a lack of competition in the food industry March 10, 2023 Supermarkets up and down the country have blamed bad weather for empty shelves, but monopolies in the food industry have left supply chains more and more fragile, writes Nick Dearden.
The iron grip of Whitehall-think of keeping Britain’s productivity down March 10, 2023 Jeremy Hunt needs to keep the ship steady, but he’s also missing an obvious trick to allow Britain to build up it’s depleted productivity again, writes John Dickie
FTSE 100 live: London takes fright as Powell testimony scares off blue chip investors March 9, 2023 London’s main index took another step back on Thursday as a second day of testimony in front of Washington lawmakers by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell largely stuck to the hawkish tone of the previous day. The FTSE 100 was last at 7,868.64, down 61.28 points or 0.77 per cent while the FTSE 250 which includes [...]
Jeremy Hunt readies placeholder budget that will let a lot of people down March 9, 2023 Jeremy Hunt is going to let a lot of people down at his budget next Wednesday. Businesses. Families. Even former Prime Ministers. The Chancellor is poised to resist calls to save a flatlining economy by staying the course set in his November autumn statement of balancing the books. Households want an extension of energy support [...]
Let’s be honest, our economic plans for Britain should look a lot more like Poland’s March 9, 2023 If Keir Starmer is right and Poland surpasses our economy, we might want to emulate its policies. From the Poles, we should learn how to attract more foreign and domestic investment, writes Harrison Griffiths
Citizens Advice calls for better use of personal data to create social tariff March 8, 2023 The government should use Brits' personal data about income tax rates and energy usage to create a new social tariff, argues Citizens Advice.
Use your Isa allowance to invest against the Chancellor’s ‘Budget raid’ on savings March 8, 2023 What are your options if you plan to use your Isa to buy stocks and shares. We explore the different assets and explain why it’s more important than ever to use your Isa allowance this tax year. More taxpayers than ever are falling into the higher rate tax bracket of 40 per cent. According to [...]