‘Doing a day’s work seen as stressful’ by youth, Liz Kendall says February 7, 2025 The UK must avoid a situation where “doing a day’s work is in itself seen as stressful” by young people, Liz Kendall has warned. The work and pensions secretary has told ITV: “There is genuinely a problem with many young people, particularly the Covid generation, but we can’t have a situation where doing a day’s [...]
Week in Business: Growth hammer blow means Reeves must change course February 7, 2025 If the Chancellor was still on a high from last week’s big growth-focused speech, the Bank of England has just pulled her back down to earth and, for good measure, poured a bucket of cold water over her. This is a time for hard truths and none harder than the hammer-blow fact that the Bank [...]
Stagflation: Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces mess of her own making February 7, 2025 The Bank now expects the UK economy to grow 0.7 per cent this year, cut from a previous estimate of 1.5 per cent. Inflation, meanwhile, will hit 3.7 per cent later this year.
Phone thefts: How are the Met Police tackling the crisis in London? February 6, 2025 If you live or travel in London, it’s fairly likely that you, or someone you live, work or socialise with, will – at some point or other – have had their phone stolen. Whether it’s slipped out of your pocket, or snatched from your hand, the experience has become commonplace – but remains stressful, frustrating, [...]
Free market groups welcome nuclear power planning reform February 6, 2025 Free market groups have welcomed the government’s plans to reform planning rules around building nuclear power plants as “excellent news”. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today announced the overhaul in a bid to slash red tape, fast-track approvals for new reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs. Small modular reactors (SMRs) would be built [...]
FTSE 100 surges after Bank of England cuts interest rate February 6, 2025 The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 surged higher today after the Bank of England moved to cut interest rates to 4.5 per cent in a bid to breathe life into Britain’s ailing economy. All of the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee voted in favour of a reduction in rates, with two members of the group [...]
Bank of England cuts interest rates despite looming inflation surge February 6, 2025 The Bank of England cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, even though rate-setters expect to see a significant rise in inflation over the coming year. Seven members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) backed the decision, while two – Swati Dhingra and Catherine Mann – voted for a larger 50 basis [...]
Cut taxes for BP and Shell to protect UK from Trump’s trade war, Rachel Reeves told February 6, 2025 Oil giants such as BP and Shell who operate in the North Sea should be given huge tax breaks to help protect the UK against Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is calling on the UK government to reduce the 78 per cent tax [...]
Is Reeves heading for a fiscal car crash? February 6, 2025 Rachel Reeves has a deep respect for officialdom and institutions and was aghast at the way Liz Truss simply ignored the Office for Budget Responsibility when putting together her doomed ‘mini Budget.’ Cast your mind back to the early days of the Truss administration (which, as it turned out, weren’t very far from the final [...]
Overhaul of planning barriers to nuclear power, Starmer announces February 6, 2025 An overhaul of planning barriers to make it easier to build new nuclear power plants has been announced by Keir Starmer. The move will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government said, as the Prime Minister confirmed red tape would be “slashed” in a bid to fast-track approval of reactors. It is set to [...]