Airports call for George Osborne to scrap air passenger duty or risk losing jobs to Scotland November 27, 2014 Airports in the north of England have appealed to the chancellor to scrap air passenger duty (APD) in his Autumn Statement next week, following the announcement yesterday that Scotland will be free to get rid of the tax as part of devolution plans. Three key airports in the north have all made appeals to [...]
Treasury will reveal tax structures targeted by Google Tax this week December 7, 2014 THE TREASURY will this week unveil details of how it will implement the so-called Google tax, targeting firms that shift profits to overseas tax havens, as well as a list of the “artificial arrangements” used by businesses to dodge UK tax. The draft 2015 Finance Act will be published on Wednesday along with guidance on [...]
Labour’s borrowing bombshell: Ed Miliband could add £170bn to the national debt, says IFS January 13, 2015 If Labour win the General Election, they could end up borrowing £50bn more than the Tories, the director of a think tank has warned. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), wrote in the Times that Labour could add as much as £170bn to Britain's national debt by 2030. He added there was [...]
Fragments of Russian missile system found at MH17 crash site August 11, 2015 Fragments of a Russian surface-to-air missile system have been found by the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Dutch prosecutors have said. The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said possible parts of a Buk missile system had been found in eastern Ukraine “and are in possession of the [...]
Want to work abroad? Follow these six rules to succeed October 5, 2015 As the autumn nights draw in, you might feel tempted by the idea of living and working in a hotter, sunnier climate. But what does it take to succeed abroad? Some of Britain’s best-known business figures share their secrets in Going Global, a book that marks Piper's 30th anniversary of investing in consumer brands. Here [...]
UK manufacturing growth surprises in November while Eurozone disappoints with German contraction December 1, 2014 The UK's manufacturing sector grew more than expected last month according to Markit's latest Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), as solid domestic demand offset weaker orders from other markets. Markit’s PMI survey came in at a four-month high of 53.5 in November, ahead of the 53 expected and the revised 53.3 in October, offering a much-needed [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne’s plans depend on strong growth – let’s hope it actually materialises March 18, 2015 George Osborne used the opportunity of the last Budget before the election to set out his manifesto. The Budget was based on “growth and investment”, he claimed, and he promised an end to austerity towards the end of the next Parliament, defined entirely as a promise to start expanding government spending again by 2019. The [...]
July Budget 2015 at a glance: From a new tax-free dividend allowance to the raid on buy-to-let landlords and new inheritance tax rules July 8, 2015 The chancellor outlined £12bn of welfare cuts, introduced new inheritance tax rules & vowed to crack down on tax avoidance. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK is expected to be the fastest-growing advanced economy again this year. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the economy to grow by 2.4 per cent in [...]
Exports have become a political football: We must change the way we look at trade December 4, 2014 LARGELY missing from the debate surrounding the Autumn Statement was a discussion of exports and the UK’s trade picture more generally. Ed Balls got in a brief ribbing about the supposedly stunted performance of UK exports and the progress to date in achieving the government’s aim of an “export-led recovery”. And the package of help [...]
Greek crisis: Eurozone ministers agree to third bailout August 15, 2015 Eurozone finance ministers last night agreed to a third bailout deal for Greece, helping the cash-strapped country avoid bankruptcy and almost certain exit from the single currency bloc. "New loans of up to €86bn (£61bn) will be made available over the next three years to Greece," the European Commission said in a statement made after [...]