Chasm widens between Sunak and Johnson on cost of net zero October 17, 2021 A leaked government document has revealed a widening chasm between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over the economic impact of the UK reaching net zero by 2050. Despite Johnson preparing to put the UK at the forefront of global efforts to fight climate change as host of Cop26 climate summit next month, [...]
Raise a glass: Sunak set to overhaul alcohol tax regime October 17, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to overhaul the UK’s alcohol tax regime to give English wines an advantage over foreign wines. Sunak is preparing to scrap onerous levies on sparkling wine and bring the tax charged in line with the same rate as still wine, wiping an estimated 83p off bottles of bubbly, according to [...]
Bank of England dove flies against the wind on interest rates October 15, 2021 A member of the Bank of England’s rate setting committee has broken ranks and taken a more dovish stance against heating inflation. Silvana Tenreyro, an external member of the Bank’s monetary policy committee, warned it would be “self-defeating” to hike interest rates to hose down temporary bout of inflation. More to follow.
Labour squeeze shows no sign of cooling before Christmas October 15, 2021 Worker shortages that are threatening to throw a spanner into retailers’ Christmas operations show now signs of cooling. Over the last week, 235,000 job postings were created online, with a noticeable jump in demand for sales and retail workers, research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) found. The uplift was partly driven by a [...]
Sunak deaf to industry calls to overhaul business rates October 14, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ignored calls from industry chiefs to shake up the business rate regime at the next budget. According to The Telegraph, government plans to overhaul the business rate system have been “thrown into the long grass”. The Chancellor has not had enough time to consider the effects of wholesale changes to the [...]
City rejects looming interest rate rise: ‘Old Lady should adopt Maradona theory’ October 14, 2021 Markets are increasingly betting that the Bank of England will raise interest rates before Christmas to contain spiralling inflation. The shift came after two of the Old Lady’s most senior officials gave the strongest signal yet that the central bank is ready to choke off inflation. Strengthening predictions over a looming rate hike triggered a [...]
US Fed to launch tapering as soon as next month October 14, 2021 The world’s most influential central bank has provided the strongest signal yet it is preparing to rein in the wave of stimulus it unleashed in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The US Federal Reserve is considering pulling back asset purchases designed to shield the American economy from the worst effects of the pandemic as soon [...]
Tax hikes to derail UK economy at the final hurdle October 14, 2021 Imposing punitive tax hikes on businesses will blow the UK economic recovery off course just as it is in touching distance of reaching pre-pandemic strength. That’s the warning to Chancellor Rishi Sunak from economists and industry leaders after data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Britain is inches away from full repair. “Our [...]
Top industry brass press Sunak on business rates overhaul October 14, 2021 The UK’s top business groups who represent over 9m workers are pressing Chancellor Rishi Sunak to overhaul the business rates regime. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), alongside 41 trade associations acting on behalf of 261,000 businesses, have called on Sunak to reduce the burden of business rates on firms at this month’s budget to [...]
Here we go: EU proposes to cut checks by 80 per cent, less Brexit paperwork and free medicine flow October 13, 2021 EU proposals to reframe the Northern Ireland protocol are in as the European Commission released the details this afternoon. It is proposing to cut spot checks, reduce paperwork and make the flow of medicines easier. The EU proposals to address practical difficulties around the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol cover four specific areas, with [...]
