British tax burden at 50-year high, according to TaxPayers’ Alliance December 2, 2018 The TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group has called for lower taxes as ‘poorest’ families struggle with current levels. The TPA, linked to the Atlas Network of free market advocates, said the UK’s tax take was at a 50-year high of 34.6 per cent of GDP. National current receipts are at a 21-year high as a proportion [...]
Paris protests: At least 158 arrested after demonstration turns violent December 1, 2018 At least 158 people have been arrested after there were violent clashes between protestors and French police in Paris on Saturday. Riot police used tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades to quell protestors who attempted to breach security cordons on the Champs Elysees boulevard. It was the third rally in as many weeks as people took to [...]
BCA marketplace reports higher profits despite tougher emissions standards November 29, 2018 WeBuyAnyCar’s parent firm BCA Marketplace reported a 31 per cent year-on-year rise in first half profit today, despite fears that tougher emissions standard would restrict the future supply of new vehicles. The company recorded pre-tax profit of £45.7m for the six months to the end of September, rising from £34.9m in the same period last [...]
Expensive stocks & high debt: A concern for investors November 28, 2018 At no point in the lifetime of any investor operating today has the US not been the largest stock market on the planet and yet it recently notched up a new kind of record. According to numbers crunched by analyst Scott Irving of Jefferies International, at the end of September, the US accounted for 62.4 [...]
Like southern Europe, Britain’s stagnant regions are stuck in a monetary union trap November 28, 2018 The Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence created a bit of a stir at the end of last week with its estimates of growth in the regions of the UK. Since the recovery from the financial crisis began during 2009, London’s economy has grown by 26 per cent. At the other end of the scale, output [...]
Money in your pocket: UK salaries set to increase in 2019 November 22, 2018 Workers in the UK are expected to receive a 0.8 per cent real-term salary increase in 2019, double the increase received in 2018. The average UK private sector worker will receive an extra £20 per month or £237.35 per year before tax. This follows a better-than-expected salary increase for UK workers in 2018 of 0.4 [...]
Bet365’s billionaire boss Denise Coates pockets massive £265m payout November 21, 2018 The chief executive of online bookie Bet365 Denise Coates took home £265m last year after giving herself a £21m pay rise. The billionaire businesswoman pocketed a salary of £220m, an increase from £199m last year and roughly a third of Bet365’s total profits for the year to the end of March, according to the company’s accounts. Coates, [...]
Sugar tax raises £154m but the government warns more must be done November 21, 2018 The sugar tax on soft drinks has raised £153.8m since it came into force in April, the government has said. The levy was rolled out seven months ago to help tackle childhood obesity, with revenue used to fund physical education in primary schools. The figure is less than half the original amount estimated when the tax was [...]
To restore public trust, it’s time for finance to find its purpose November 21, 2018 More than 10 years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the finance industry still has much work to do to rebuild society’s trust. Given the centrality of financial services to the UK’s economy – whether through the tax revenues it pays, the two million jobs it supports, or the basic functions of our economy [...]
Hilary Ineomo-Marcus detained near Heathrow following Kweku Adoboli deportation – surely it’s time for the Home Office to re-think its approach November 20, 2018 Former rogue trader Kweku Adoboli was deported last week, the Home Office insisting on removing the man who sensationally lost UBS £1.8bn between 2008 and 2011. Two days earlier, City A.M. argued that his case, alongside that of a south Londoner named Hilary Ineomo-Marcus, demonstrated flaws in the government's blunt approach to the deportation of foreign [...]