Budget 2016: With Crossrail 2 and the opportunity for London to keep its business rates, there were bright spots for the capital March 16, 2016 With the ‘storm clouds gathering’, the Budget revealed additional pain for public servants – an extra £3.5bn in spending cuts over the remainder of the parliament. For many this Budget will feel like just another twist in the story of fiscal austerity over this decade, adding further momentum to massive changes that are already under [...]
Budget 2016: With the new Lifetime Isa, George Osborne is risking creating a spaghetti soup of Isa products March 16, 2016 All the talk before the Budget was about making pensions simpler. Despite noble intentions, what George Osborne has actually done is make Isas more complex. Don’t get me wrong. The Lifetime Isa and, in particular, the increase in the main Isa allowance to £20,000 are positive developments for UK savers. However, there is a danger [...]
Budget 2016: The ‘Graph of Doom’ and the UK’s £100bn secret weapon March 16, 2016 Another budget, another round of public funding cuts. Whatever the efficacy of George Osborne’s latest round of cuts to public services, one thing is increasingly clear: while government backs British business to flourish and focuses on ensuring the UK is ‘living within its means’, someone must fill the growing public services gap. When projecting their future spending power [...]
Budget 2016: As chancellor George Osborne announces new lifetime Isa, young workers now face baffling saving choices March 16, 2016 The introduction of a flexible new savings product for younger workers sounds superficially attractive but opens up a baffling range of options and the risk of making damaging choices. In recent years millions of people in their 20s and 30s have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, benefiting from an employer contribution, tax relief [...]
Budget 2016: The sugar tax would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic March 16, 2016 George Osborne’s Budgets have a reputation for pulling populist rabbits out of hats. Last time it was the so-called living wage. This time it was something the government has repeatedly said it was loathe to endorse – a sugar tax. In his response to the chancellor, an angry Jeremy Corbyn berated the Budget on almost every count. [...]
Budget 2016: The lifetime Isa could be a real shot in the arm for savers and investors – but must not be bogged down in baggage like our pensions system March 16, 2016 There is plenty to mull from today's Budget, but one announcement in particular stood out. The saver's rabbit in the hat was the lifetime Isa, a scheme designed to help those under 40 get into the savings habit providing a bonus of up to £1,000 for every £4,000 saved per year, aimed at house purchase [...]
Budget 2016: Deficit poses a threat to Chancellor George Osborne’s ambitions March 16, 2016 "Education, education, education,” preached former Prime Minister Tony Blair, nearly two decades ago. The same sentiment, if not the same soundbite, will be borrowed today by a man who very much hopes to become a future inhabitant of Number 10. Alongside the usual fiscal tinkering, George Osborne will use the Budget to stress the importance [...]
This Budget is Osborne’s chance to simplify tax and defend globalisation March 16, 2016 There are two threads – one general, the other highly specific – which I should like to see weaved into the fabric of the chancellor’s Budget statement today. First, a clear defence of globalisation and, second, firm action towards the long overdue merger of income tax and National Insurance. Despite what purists might regard as [...]
More needs to be done for mums to go to Iceland March 16, 2016 As the challenger discount supermarkets continue to expand their market share, more established rivals are reacting in differing ways in their attempts to recoup lost ground. Iceland, known for its inexpensive frozen produce, has been trying to reposition itself. By improving the quality of its offering, it is aiming to broaden its appeal in the [...]
Here be digital dragons: Why we’re much better off than the official statistics say March 16, 2016 The oldest surviving map of Britain was created in Canterbury a thousand years ago. Our ancestors had a good idea of how to get around, as the country is depicted in its familiar shape. But understanding of the world outside Western Europe remained sketchy for centuries. The phrase “here be dragons” was allegedly used to [...]