Demand for flexible jobs soars as workers seek remote roles November 12, 2024 Searches for jobs with flexible working surged by 132 per cent between July and September this year, according to new figures. Based on 22,000 job searches analysed by flexible work specialist Flexa, the data also shows that 60 per cent more flexible job adverts were posted in the same period compared to the previous quarter. [...]
What Canada wants from Reeves’s Mansion House speech November 12, 2024 Treasury officials have been hitting the phones to City firms over the past two weeks as Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver the government’s annual Mansion House speech to the financial services sector. The backdrop is a fractious one for the Chancellor. While the Labour party built cordial ties with the Square Mile in the run [...]
Labour will be thinking global, but their fortunes depend on the local November 12, 2024 Labour strategists will be focused on what Trump’s victory means for Britain and the world, but the government will soon face big challenges at the local level, says James Nation Following on from the US election result, takes abound on what Trump 2.0 means for the world and for the UK. On the economy, there [...]
Ministers either don’t understand private sector, or don’t care November 11, 2024 No politician could actually get away with telling businesses to “suck it up” when they warn about the impact of tax rises, though Labour’s Darren Jones came dangerously close yesterday, airily telling the BBC that bigger businesses can handle higher costs. While it’s true that they’ll find a way to pay these new taxes and [...]
Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor November 11, 2024 The government is under increasing pressure to revisit its hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage after a number of the UK’s largest employers voiced concerns about the impact of the changes on their costs and operations. Over 200 of the UK’s biggest hospitality businesses signed a letter to the Chancellor yesterday [...]
The real reason Britain doesn’t build November 11, 2024 Planning isn’t the only reason we have a housing shortage, too many developments just aren’t economically viable, says Melanie Leech The government is undoubtedly right to focus its efforts on reforming the planning system. Ask the anyone in the property industry and they will say that the system is complex, burdensome, under-resourced, and prone to [...]
NHS must be weaned off ‘more, more, more’ culture, warns Alan Milburn November 9, 2024 Alan Milburn, who ran the department under Tony Blair, warned that the NHS was “drinking in the last-chance saloon” .
Starmer appoints Jonathan Powell as UK national security adviser November 8, 2024 Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Tony Blair’s former chief of staff Jonathan Powell as his national security adviser. The Cabinet Office confirmed the former Foreign Office diplomat and No10 chief operator would take on the key role advising the Prime Minister in an announcement today. It comes amid the re-election of Donald Trump as US [...]
Bank of England and Fed to cut interest rates despite fiscal fears November 6, 2024 The Bank held rates at its last meeting in September, but signalled that further cuts were on the way if there continued to be progress on inflation.
Stamp duty hike: a ‘bitter but manageable pill to swallow’ for UK landlords November 5, 2024 Last week’s Budget announcement raised Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to five per cent tax, yet household landlords seem unfazed. London-based estate agent Benham and Reeves carried a survey to find out how UK landlords reacted to this hike. Concerns about potential hikes in capital gains tax (CGT) on property investments weighed heavily on landlords [...]
