National Insurance rise to hit City of London small businesses the hardest in UK January 30, 2022 Small businesses in the City of London will be the worst hit in the UK by the coming rise in National Insurance, according to new research shared with City A.M. Figures from the House of Commons library, and collated by the Liberal Democrats, show small businesses in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency will [...]
IR35: Business groups urge Rishi Sunak to suspend rollout February 17, 2020 Employment groups have urged the new chancellor Rishi Sunak to suspend the IR35 new tax regulations for self-employed workers or risk damaging the economy. According to industry bodies, the changes, which are due to come into effect in April, will lead to a third of self-employed contractors stopping freelancing over non-compliance fears. Andy Chamberlain, deputy [...]
Roaring inflation to shove government borrowing back to expected levels October 21, 2021 Roaring inflation will shove government borrowing back to expected levels in the coming months. Surging energy prices, compounded by a jump in the rate of VAT for hospitality businesses, will drive sharp price rises, swelling the government’s interest bill. Further pressure on the public finance from higher debt servicing costs will bring “borrowing in the [...]
British defence titans boosted by global tensions November 22, 2022 Britain’s defence titans are benefiting heavily from the volatility sweeping the geopolitical stage, with profits on the rise, full-year outlooks cemented and blockbuster contracts in the pipeline. London-listed defence engineer Babcock today posted a underlying operating profit of £121.7m for the six-months ended to the end of September, compared to £115.3m a year earlier. Meanwhile [...]
A Tory dilemma: our workforce is weakest in Red Wall seats March 24, 2023 As the Conservatives look to fix the workforce, the Red Wall is wide open, writes Praful Nargund.
Sue Gray report: Johnson says UK must ‘move on’ as he takes ‘full responsibility’ for partygate May 25, 2022 Boris Johnson has said now is the time to “move on” from the partygate scandal, after saying he takes “full responsibility” for the brazen Covid rule-breaking uncovered in Sue Gray’s report. The Prime Minister told the House of Commons that he had “no knowledge” that Covid rules were broken on eight occasions, as deliberated by [...]
FCA names interim digital asset lead amid crypto push April 20, 2022 The UK's financial regulator has selected Victoria McLoughlin as interim head of a new unit focussing on digital assets.
Latest GDP figures confirm UK economy grows 0.8 per cent as Covid fears subside March 11, 2022 Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.8 per cent in January as the hit from the Omicron variant subsided. It more than reversed the entire 0.2 per cent fall that had been observed in December. Experts had predicted a 0.1 per cent rise in [...]
Sadiq Khan to create £90m City Hall green bond programme February 15, 2022 Sadiq Khan will issue City Hall green bonds as a part of a £90m programme intended to boost the UK’s investment in green infrastructure. The new programme, which will be in the mayor of London’s £16bn+ 2021-22 Budget, will see £86m spent on the green bond programme and a further £4m spent on developing “high-impact [...]
Just Stop Oil protests should not justify carte blanche powers to the police December 5, 2022 You would need the patience of a saint, or a dyed-in-the-wool eco-warrior, not to have been even slightly irritated by the recent activities of Just Stop Oil protestors. Whether it’s young people throwing soup over some of the world’s most valuable paintings or twenty-eight-year-old Indigo Rumbelow reduced to yelling at a television interviewer, these are [...]