Labour to reform apprenticeship levy, Angela Rayner tells business leaders March 1, 2023 Labour will reform the unpopular apprenticeship levy, Angela Rayner pledged at a key business summit today. The scheme, which firms have described as a “£3.5bn mistake”, means companies with a payroll of £3m or above have to put aside 0.5 per cent to spend on apprenticeships. But firms say the rules around training types mean [...]
PMQs: Sunak escapes Brexit grilling amid Hancock WhatsApp row March 1, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has escaped a major Brexit grilling over the Windsor Framework amid a row over former health secretary Matt Hancock’s leaked Covid-19 WhatsApp messages. The PM – whose latest EU trade agreement is widely hoped to end the power-sharing deadlock in Northern Ireland – dodged intense scrutiny over the deal in the [...]
London to be crippled by fresh tube strike on budget day as RMT joins Aslef walkout March 1, 2023 Further London Underground Tube strikes are set to hit the capital on Budget Day this month. Underground workers will walkout on March 15, when chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce the government’s financial plans for the next year, amid a row over pensions, jobs and pay. It comes after Tube drivers with the Aslef union announced [...]
More data points to UK economy avoiding recession but experts urge Hunt to prevent investment cliff edge at March budget March 1, 2023 The prospect of the UK avoiding a recession after a batch of better than expected recent data has propelled business confidence higher, a closely watched survey out today shows. Optimism among company leaders jumped 11 points to minus 17 this month, shifting it back to levels seen when the government launched Plan B measures to [...]
Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt must help families with soaring childcare bills to strengthen UK economy, CBI urges March 1, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt should help young families with the cost of childcare to tackle worker shortages that are holding back the UK economy, the country’s largest business lobby group has urged today. British households have been spiked by a 60 per cent cash terms rise in childcare bills over the last decade, far [...]
End of Bank of England £800bn bond buying scheme poses headaches for Treasury and taxpayers February 28, 2023 The magic money tree is shedding its leaves. Over a decade of cheap cash propping up the global economy has been toppled by a once in a generation inflation problem. QE was a necessary response to the batch of shocks ricocheting around the global economy since 2008. Now it’s shifted into reverse. But how did [...]
IFS: No room for tax cuts or spending rises at March budget despite Jeremy Hunt pocketing £60bn windfall February 28, 2023 There is no room for tax cuts or spending increases at the 15 March budget despite Jeremy Hunt being handed an around £60bn windfall from lower energy prices and interest rates, a top economic think tank has forecast today. The Chancellor will be held back from handing households and businesses a tax giveaway due to [...]
Recession fears chill UK investment as CBI urges Jeremy Hunt to rethink tax grab at March budget February 27, 2023 British businesses are poised to mothball investment due to uncertainty over whether the country is on course to tip into a recession and a looming tax grab, a new survey out today indicates. Fears of a slowdown in spending caused by families’ finances being squeezed by the cost of living crisis has knocked optimism among [...]
Modi and India stop G20 calling Putin’s war in Ukraine a ‘war’ February 25, 2023 There is concern amongst rich nations about being unable to call a war started by Vladimir Putin just that, due to splits between global powers G20 finance chiefs have been unable to reach a consensus on describing the war in Ukraine and are likely to end a meeting in India on Saturday without a joint [...]
Warren Buffett turns record profit – despite lashings of global headwinds February 25, 2023 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Saturday reported its highest-ever annual operating profit, even as foreign currency losses and lower gains from investments caused fourth-quarter profit to fall. Buffett called 2022 a “good year” for Berkshire in his annual shareholder letter after the conglomerate’s dozens of businesses generated $30.8 billion of profit despite rising inflation and [...]