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 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 [...]
Here’s what Skyscanner’s biggest shareholder had to say about £1.4bn sale November 24, 2016 The biggest shareholder in unicorn tech startup Skyscanner, snapped up by Chinese firm Ctrip for £1.4bn, has told City A.M. the deal is a good one for the UK's tech industry, just a day after chancellor Philip Hammond announced measures to counter the trend of the UK's brightest companies selling rather than scaling up. "This is [...]
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: What do free marketeers want from chancellor George Osborne and what do they think they’ll get? November 24, 2015 True to chancellor George Osborne’s record, tomorrow’s Autumn Statement promises to be a highly politicised event and one that has been mired by recent events including the Paris attacks, borrowing figures and controversy around cuts to tax credits, departments, services and welfare. Forgetting the political theatre, just what do free marketeers want from this Budget? Tax credits Let's [...]
The reality of starting out as a landlord: Four months of no tenants and £2,000 set-up costs November 29, 2016 It may be regarded as a money-spinning idea by some, but a new study has laid bare the challenges of being a landlord. A fifth of new property owners said they had endured four months without tenants after they bought their first properties, according to a study by the Nottingham Building Society – while 53 per cent [...]
Britain’s used car sales motor to record levels as 2.1m vehicles changed hands from July to September November 17, 2016 Forget the very aesthetically appealing model debuts being wheeled out at the LA motor show, Brits are still feeling the love for used cars. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), growth in the used car market continued in the third quarter of this year, with buyers snapping up a record 2.1m vehicles, [...]
Meet Masthaven: The latest challenger bank on the scene November 28, 2016 Masthaven has become the latest challenger bank on the scene, as it officially opens for business today. The bank was initially awarded its retail banking licence in April and has spent the time between then and now strengthening its team and developing its technology platform and product offering. At present, the challenger offers a flexible [...]
A £60bn bill for Brexit is outweighed heavily by economic gains November 28, 2016 The Autumn Statement provides the building blocks for Britain to be the best enterprise economy in the world. So why then has the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) been so pessimistic about growth prospects saying that we will be £60billion worse off? Well first of all, the growth forecasts outstrip all of our EU competitors, [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond has raided HSBC for a new special adviser October 9, 2016 Chancellor Philip Hammond has recruited HSBC's chief European economist as a key adviser. Karen Ward will join the Treasury to serve as Hammond's special economic adviser. Prior to joining the government, Ward had been at HSBC for more than a decade, and her appointment comes as Hammond prepares for his first fiscal event as chancellor [...]