Anneliese Dodds pitches Labour as party of fiscal responsibility September 21, 2020 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has said Labour will be a party of fiscal responsibility under its new leadership, while setting out a three-point plan to protect UK businesses from the economic crisis. Dodds used her speech at the virtual Labour conference to call out the government for being “cavalier” with public money, adding that she [...]
Businesses voluntarily return £215m in furlough cash September 21, 2020 UK firms have voluntarily returned more than £215m of furlough money to the government either because they did not need it or they took it in error. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) figures released today showed that 80,433 employers have so far returned furlough cash totalling more than £215m handed to them to cover staff [...]
Second local lockdown could cost London more than £2bn September 21, 2020 London could face annual costs of more than £2bn if fresh curfew measures are implemented in the capital, according to a new report. Leading think tank the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) today warned that 10pm curfews introduced elsewhere in the UK could reverse the country’s economic recovery if slapped on London venues. [...]
Rishi Sunak considers slashing welfare and public sector pay September 20, 2020 Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning on freezng benefits and public sector pay as a part of a bid to offset the Treasury’s coronavirus spending. The government has spent around £190bn in emergency Covid-19 funding, which has put this year’s budget deficit at an estimated £350bn – 12-times higher than pre-crisis expectations. Media speculation has been [...]
Global stocks slip as coronavirus cases rise September 19, 2020 Stock markets around the world continued to stutter this week as an increase in Covid-19 cases in across Europe weighed on market sentiment. Wall Street saw early gains on Friday reverse and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the session posting a third straight week of declines, led by this week’s Federal Reserve meeting and [...]
Bank of England reaction: Will interest rates go negative? September 18, 2020 The Bank of England (BoE) held monetary policy steady yesterday for the second meeting in a row. Interest rates were left at 0.1 per cent and bond-buying at £745bn in a business-as-usual decision. All nine members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted in favour of continuing this monetary policy. But analysts, investors and traders [...]
Around 5m workers were furloughed in July amid uneven recovery September 18, 2020 As many as 5.3m people remained on the furlough scheme at the end of the July, although almost a million returned to their jobs on a part-time basis, the latest figures from HMRC showed. The furlough scheme became flexible in July, meaning businesses could bring employees back part-time. The government paid 80 per cent of [...]
Almost half of firms plan to cut or stop hiring amid pandemic September 18, 2020 Almost half of UK firms expect to reduce recruitment or stop hiring new employees altogether over the coming year as they adjust to life during the coronavirus pandemic, a survey has found. The latest CBI/Pertemps employment trends survey said a “two-speed” job market had emerged. It found 46 per cent of firms were looking to [...]
UK small business recovery stalls as firms adapt to Covid September 18, 2020 The recovery among UK small businesses slowed in August as demand for services dropped, according to a new survey, in a worrying sign that the economic rebound is running out of steam. Natwest, who produced the survey, said there was a “widening gap” between big businesses and smaller firms, the latter of which employ the [...]
No new 2p or £2 coins to be made for a decade September 18, 2020 The Royal Mint has no plans to make any new 2p or £2 coins for the next decade, as cash usage in the UK continues to decline. Only 30 per cent of transactions made in the UK last year used cash, compared to 60 per cent in 2009. However cash is still relied upon by [...]
