Back in black: Pandemic recovery of British Airways’ owner takes off in earnest as IAG pulls in £245m profit July 29, 2022 British Airways’ owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has returned to profit for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The group said it made an operating profit of 293 million euros (£245 million) between April and June, compared with a 967 million euro (£810 million) loss during the same period last [...]
UK borrowed record £16.7bn for February but Jeremy Hunt handed interest bill boost March 21, 2023 The UK borrowed a higher than expected £16.7bn in February, a record for that specific month due to the government spending billions on helping families with the cost of energy bills, official figures out today reveal. Office for National Statistics (ONS) numbers indicate Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to cap typical household energy bills at £2,500 [...]
PMI: Omicron curbs on daily life wreak havoc on UK economy December 16, 2021 Strict restrictions on Brits’ daily lives are wreaking havoc on the UK economy, reveals a closely watched survey released this morning. The flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a timely indicator of the health of the British economy, plummeted to 53.2 in December, a 10-month low and down from 57.6 in November, according to IHS Markit [...]
Virus modellers must admit their mistakes and learn from the practice of transparency January 26, 2022 By now, we all know about the poor track record of prediction by the academic modelling teams advising the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – Sage. The unreliable nature of economic projections is also evident, as analysis of the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) database shows. Yet the epidemiologists could still learn from the experience [...]
WHO appoints Gordon Brown as ambassador for global health financing September 20, 2021 The World Health Organisation this morning appointed former prime minister Gordon Brown an ambassador for global health financing. Brown has been campaigning tirelessly in recent months for wealthy nations and the private sector to ensure the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. He is calling for a concerted global effort to save lives, especially in poorer [...]
Wizz Air cancels 10 per cent of flights as airline battles ongoing travel chaos July 27, 2022 Wizz Air has announced it will cut additional flights from its summer schedule in a bid to combat the ongoing travel chaos. Chief executive Jozsef Varadi said that cancellations will amount to 10 per cent of summer flights, up from the 5 per cent announced on 11 July. “We’ve been going through some real pain [...]
Let’s be honest, stamp duty is a terrible tax killing economic growth and productivity September 22, 2022 Tomorrow’s mini-budget is turning into a super-budget. The changes were already looking drastic, from the energy price freeze and scrapping the bankers’ bonus to reversing the national insurance and corporate tax rises. The latest reports suggest the prime minister and her chancellor are even intending to cut stamp duty. “This is about growing the size [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Is Big Jet TV Guy the new Francis Bourgeois? February 21, 2022 When Tim Berners-Lee created the world wide web in 1989, he probably didn’t envisage that on a windy day in the UK, more than 100,000 people would tune in to watch planes land at Heathrow. Part of the fascination with Big Jet TV, the youtube channel dedicated to plan landings, was the host’s excitement. It [...]
Industrial giants tumble in London as commodities boom runs out of steam April 21, 2022 Sharp falls among industrial giants led to a mixed day for London’s top indexes today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index edged 0.02 per cent lower to 7,627.95 points, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, jumped 0.36 per cent to 21,159.68 points. Growing [...]
US to open land borders with Mexico and Canada for fully vaccinated in November October 13, 2021 The US plans to end a 19-month land border closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic in November. The country will require all international visitors to be vaccinated. Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the US and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel, such as trade, since the earliest days of the [...]