Top think tank: Osborne set to miss his target November 25, 2012 THE CHANCELLOR may be faced with a double whammy of dropping a fiscal target and tightening the UK’s belt in next week’s Autumn Statement, a think-tank said this morning. Chancellor George Osborne will have to abandon his goal for the national debt to finally fall as a percentage of GDP by 2015-16, even if current [...]
Red tape detail forces Northern Rock to repay £270m in interest December 11, 2012 THE TAXPAYER-funded arm of Northern Rock will have to pay £270m back to customers, after a regulatory technicality means borrowers’ interest payments were not legally required. Around 152,000 Northern Rock loans made in 2008 are not valid, the chancellor told parliament yesterday, because the newly state-owned lender failed to include certain compulsory information in letters [...]
For large home owners it’s heads I win tails you lose December 20, 2012 DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS AND GORDON Q There was a lot to read in the autumn statement. I live in a big house and need to know if I have anything to worry about. A To find out if you are going to be liable for a new levy, you will have to look at your property [...]
Call for a clear exports vision November 25, 2012 THE UK needs a long-term vision to cut taxes and boost exports, manufacturers’ organisation EEF claimed today, arguing that firms need certainty if they are to invest and grow. Increasing tax breaks for investment should be a start, it argued, as “the capital allowances system is the second least supportive in the OECD.” And the [...]
Virgin Media in plea to modify internet fund December 2, 2012 AN OVERHAUL of the government’s multi-million pound superfast broadband initiative could be on the cards under Maria Miller, the new culture secretary. Virgin Media is today writing to Miller with a list of recommendations for the government’s criticised £150m urban broadband fund – which was set up by George Osborne to boost internet speeds for [...]
Government backs Heseltine’s plans for local authority power December 5, 2012 LOCAL authorities are set to get a say over billions of pounds of funding, after the chancellor endorsed Lord Heseltine’s recent report on stimulating growth. The 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) across the country will become responsible for pitching spending ideas to a central funding pot from 2015, according to the Autumn Statement yesterday. LEPs, [...]
Tories stop bid to delay fuel duty rise again November 12, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT last night faced down a Labour bid to further delay the planned 3p rise in fuel duty, disappointing motorists but fending off a backbench rebellion. The motion, which would have pushed the rise back from January to at least April, was defeated by 282 votes to 234, resulting in a healthy margin of [...]
Cable wants tax on wealthy November 18, 2012 Business Secretary Vince Cable said ministers were looking at ways to raise taxes on the wealthy in next month’s Autumn Statement. Cable told the BBC he expected the debate about taxing the wealthy to be resolved in the next few weeks when chancellor George Osborne delivers his speech. “The people at the top of society [...]
Consultation launched on plan for flat-rate state retirement pot December 5, 2012 A CONSULTATION on replacing the means-tested state pensions with a simpler universal flat rate system will be launched this month. This announcement in the Autumn Statement brought a key part of the coalition’s pension reform closer to being realised, though it will likely be months before the end of the consultation. A paper from the Department [...]
Osborne set to delay planned fuel price hike November 12, 2012 GEORGE Osborne is ready to scrap a planned increase to fuel duty, a leading backbencher suggested yesterday. Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow, told City A.M. that he will not back today’s Commons motion calling for January’s 3p per litre rise to be delayed – because the government is already considering such action. This is [...]