Autumn Statement 2015: Why the Government Digital Services needs a boost from George Osborne November 25, 2015 Pity the bureaucrats this morning. Civil servants across Whitehall have been asked to impose more major cuts to departmental spending. BIS faces a cut of 17 per cent by 2020, while Transport will lose 37 per cent. Others, however, have been spared – some quite unexpectedly. The Arts Council’s budget will be increased, in spite [...]
New European Union rules to prevent market rigging November 25, 2015 New rules have been laid out by the European Union to prevent market benchmarks, like Libor and Euribor, being rigged by banks. Benchmarks will now be supervised to varying degrees depending on their size, a statement from EU president Luxembourg said. When applied, the new rules will strengthen confidence in financial markets "preventing new manipulation [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne hits out at SNP, says falling oil prices would have forced independent Holyrood into catastrophic cuts November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne used this afternoon's Autumn Statement to make a dig at the Scottish nationalists, issuing a stark warning about what might have been had they had succeeded in securing independence. Citing the severe drop-off in global oil prices since the Scottish referendum in September 2014, Osborne said the knock-on effects on government revenues would have [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne delivers some relief to embattled UK steel industry November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has cut costs for energy intensive industries, such as the embattled steel sector, in a bid to give them long-term certainty. Osborne, who was addressing parliament with his Autumn Statement today, said: "We're going to permanently exempt our energy intensive industries … from the cost of environmental tariffs, so we keep their bills down, keep them [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Changes to bring in £5bn a year from tax avoidance November 25, 2015 The government is aiming to bring in £5bn more a year through tackling tax avoidance by 2019-20. In the Autumn Statement chancellor George Osborne confirmed £800m more would be spent on tackling evasion and non-compliance through to 2020. The government is also set to build a digital tax system to help fight avoidance and to [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Treasury documents reveal new details about planned RBS, Lloyds, Northern Rock sales November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne may not have mentioned returning British banks to private ownership in his statement to parliament this afternoon, but buried in the Treasury's official Spending Review and Autumn Statement documents are new details about plans for selling off the government's stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds. Noting that the government is "committed to [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Shadow chancellor John McDonnell just quoted Mao ZeDong’s Little Red Book in the House of Commons November 25, 2015 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell might have been hoping to embarrass his counterpart over his growing ties with China. But when he quoted Communist Party leader Mao ZeDong and brandished the infamous Little Red Book in the House of Commons the reaction was all directed towards McDonnell. During his response to George Osborne's Autumn Statement, Labour's number two said: [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: How the analysts, businesses and think tanks reacted to the key points in George Osborne’s speech November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement and Spending Review speech to parliament today. He announced increased housing in inner cities, a sell-off of prisons to develop new homes, and more cash for affordable housing schemes. Read more: Osborne announces surprise u-turn on tax credits Here's what the analysts, business and think tanks think about Osborne's plans: What the analysts said: [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne just compared the tampon tax to Libor banking fines as £15m raised will go to women’s charities November 25, 2015 George Osborne has announced a new plan in the Autumn Statement, which probably sounded good on paper, but has not quite hit the mark as expected when announced out loud. The five per cent tax levied on tampons remains (despite many a campaign to abolish it), deferring a decision on it to Europe, but the chancellor revealed the [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne confirms new flat state pension will be £155.65 a week November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne today said that the new flat state pension will be £155.65 a week, while the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from April. It came as he promised to maintain the state pension "triple lock" – meaning they'll rise in line with the highest of inflation, earnings or at [...]
