Nicola Sturgeon: Autumn 2018 is the “obvious” date for the next Scottish referendum March 9, 2017 The next Scottish independence referendum could take place as soon as autumn 2018, according to Scotland's first minister. In an interview with the BBC today, Nicola Sturgeon refused to rule out next autumn as a date for a new referendum. "Within the window of when… a deal becomes clear on the UK exiting the EU… [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond defends national insurance tax rises in Budget and insists no promises were broken March 9, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has defended his decision to raise national insurance contributions in the Budget, despite a Conservative manifesto pledge not to increase any tax contributions. “There was a broad commitment to lock taxes so that there would be no tax increases and that is what we have done,” Hammond told the BBC. However, up [...]
Philip Hammond’s self-employment tax hike marred a refreshingly mundane Budget March 9, 2017 It took just a couple of hours for the chancellor’s Budget to come under heavy fire. He set out changes to Class Four National Insurance contributions, increasing them from 9 per cent to 11 per cent over a couple of years. This breaks a Conservative manifesto pledge ruling out VAT, income tax and NI increases, his [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s tax hikes in yesterday’s Spring Budget spell political trouble March 9, 2017 Philip Hammond was beaten up pretty badly at last night’s meeting of Tory MPs. Colleagues rounded on him for hiking a tax on the self-employed (for which one can read, entrepreneurs) and for another raid on dividend payment tax relief. How exactly are Tory MPs meant to sell this to their voters? And how does [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond picks a self-employed pocket or two in his first (and last) Spring Budget March 9, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond stands accused of breaking a key Conservative manifesto pledge after announcing a double-raid on Britain’s self-employed workers during yesterday’s Budget. Delivering the first of two Budgets this year, Hammond said he would raise the main rate of Class 4 National Insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed by one percentage point to 10 [...]
Councils will be offered £2bn to help fight off a crisis in the UK’s social care provision March 8, 2017 Local authorities will be offered up to £2bn over the next three years to help meet the cost of social care. The funding was announced by chancellor Philip Hammond earlier today with £1bn of cash set to arrive in 2017-18. Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter welcomed the announcement, saying the funding represented “a significant [...]
The chancellor needs more than a rainy day fund to help Britain weather Brexit March 8, 2017 In his final Spring Budget, the chancellor was already weaning his audience from this once important spring affair, with little of significant economic policy substance announced. He was handed a gift by the Office for Budget Responsibility in the form of an upgraded outlook for 2017, in anticipation of more resilient consumer spending, although expectations for [...]
Self-employed workers could be offered new options for parental leave March 8, 2017 Self-employed workers could be offered new options for parental leave under plans due to face consultation later this year. The government will this summer explore whether plans for the self-employed to pay higher National Insurance contributions should allow for state-funded paternal and maternal leave for new parents. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the consultation today, citing in [...]
The Department for Education is going to pilot new lifelong learning schemes March 8, 2017 Ministers will spend £40m on plans to “test the effectiveness of different approaches to lifelong learning”. The effort comes as part of a focus on later life training, and chancellor Philip Hammond said the plan would “help the next generation learn and train throughout their lives.” Confederation of British Industry director general Carolyn Fairbarn said: [...]
The Treasury is plotting an £820m tax avoidance crackdown March 8, 2017 The Treasury is hoping to raise more than £800m from new anti- tax avoidance measures, including penalties for financial advisers. New penalties will come into force from July for tax experts like advisers, if they are found to have enabled the use of avoidance schemes later defeated by HM Revenue and Customs in the courts. The [...]