Kwarteng to U-turn on scrapping 45p tax rate: ‘We get it – we have listened’ October 3, 2022 Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will U-turn on scrapping the 45p tax rate amid opposition from his own MPs and former ministers. The government is to row back on the policy following vocal opposition from former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps. On Sunday, the Prime Minister said she was “absolutely committed” to the policy. Posting [...]
Kwarteng has no option but to stay the course on tax plans October 3, 2022 A few weeks into her new role Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng would have been forgiven for thinking that Tory conference would have been something of a party. After all, Tory party members favoured her candidacy by some margin – even if Conservative MPs were more enamoured by the now extremely quiet Rishi [...]
Greater London boroughs most at risk of ‘monster’ mortgage rate hikes, say Lib Dems October 3, 2022 Greater London boroughs are most at risk as “monster” mortgage rate hikes loom, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. Sutton, Bexley, Kingston upon Thames and Redbridge are home to the highest proportion of properties owned with a mortgage, with one in three households ladened with the debt – far above the city average of [...]
Kwarteng says ‘we must stay the course’ as he defends tax cuts October 2, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng will tomorrow defend his tax cuts and declare “we must stay the course”, after the first day of Tory party conference was overshadowed by blue-on-blue attacks. The chancellor is expected to say he is committed to “fiscal responsibility”, after funding his tax cuts through more borrowing, in a bid to calm financial markets. [...]
Rees-Mogg hints government will merge financial services regulators October 2, 2022 Jacob Rees-Mogg has hinted the government will merge the UK’s financial services regulators, after the Prime Minister’s team spoke about the move during summer. It was reported during the Tory leadership contest that Truss wanted to roll the Financial Conduct Authority, the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority and Payment Systems Regulator into one body. [...]
Minister says Rees-Mogg wants to ditch ‘all business regulations’ for SMEs October 2, 2022 Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg wants to scrap all business regulations for SMEs with under 500 employees, according to a Treasury minister. Chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp told a fringe event at the Tory party conference today that Rees-Mogg would soon outline a package of measures to slash business regulation. “One of which is [...]
Where to eat, drink and sleep in Birmingham for Tory Party Conference October 2, 2022 On 2 october, Tory Party Conference kicks off in Birmingham. It remains to be seen whether the city famous for its Bull Ring will witness any blood sport following the fallout from the chancellor’s mini-budget. But whether it’s toasting the new PM or ruefully navel-gazing over Keir Starmer’s poll lead, the city’s hotels, restaurants, bars [...]
Michael Gove says Truss tax cuts are ‘not Conservative’ October 2, 2022 Michael Gove has savaged Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s recent mini-Budget, labelling the debt-funded tax cuts as “not Conservative”. The Tory big beast said the package – which included an abolition of the top 45p band of Income Tax were a “display of the wrong values” and he refused to commit to voting for them [...]
Health secretary shelves plans to buy extra monkeypox vaccines October 2, 2022 The new health secretary has reportedly shelved plans to buy additional doses of the monkeypox vaccine, as cases of the infection decline in the UK. Health minister Thérèse Coffey rejected advice from officials of the UK Health Security Agency, who recommended that extra vaccines be procured to ensure the country is protected against the infection [...]
Truss: I should have ‘laid the ground better’ for tax cuts package October 2, 2022 Liz Truss has said she should have “laid the ground better” for her package of debt-funded tax cuts as she refused to rule out public spending cuts. The Prime Minister said “I have learnt from that and I will make sure in the future we will do a better job of laying the ground”, after [...]