In full: PM Boris Johnson’s Tory conference speech in full October 6, 2020 Boris Johnson took the stage Tuesday for the Tories’ virtual party conference, announcing policies on 1:1 teaching and low-deposit mortgages, but also promising to unleash the private sector. Here’s the text in full. Good morning conference, I want to begin by thanking you for everything you did at the election, pounding the streets in the [...]
Coronavirus: Premier League clubs should face ‘windfall tax’ April 2, 2020 Premier League clubs that furlough non-playing staff during the Covid-19 crisis should be slapped with a windfall tax, according to the chair of Westminster’s sports select committee. Tottenham, Newcastle and Norwich City have taken steps to furlough non-playing staff so they can access the government’s wage subsidy scheme, while still paying players their full contracts. [...]
Won’t somebody think of the graduates? Hard-hit young people need to go back to the office August 20, 2020 Recessions always hurt. Tragically, the one we face now looks particularly severe, its speed and scale staggering. With the furlough scheme being rolled back (its own cost to the economy astronomical), UK businesses are now having to stand in the way of an economic tsunami with little or no protection. There is no hiding from [...]
Coronavirus: Here comes the startup chancellor April 20, 2020 Startups are the economy’s ‘department for the future.’ Their job is to future-proof all the other sectors – from retail and banking through ecommerce to public services. They are vital to the UK’s post-Brexit, post-Covid-19 future. They are also among its most vulnerable. Look up ‘start-up’ in the Cambridge Dictionary and the first example of [...]
Get the Bank of England focused on the real economy June 10, 2020 Economic policy is returning to its usual position of prominence. Fears of a major rise in unemployment are starting to worry the government more than fears around Covid-19. The chancellor’s imaginative schemes concerning furlough and other measures to protect jobs create potential problems elsewhere. So much money is being borrowed that the ratio of public [...]
Coronavirus: New fund launched to create apprenticeships in London June 9, 2020 A new fund has been launched by City Hall and a leading London think tank to provide retraining opportunities to London businesses affected by coronavirus. The London Progression Collaboration – run by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Greater London Authority – launched the fund today, with £500,000 already pledged by companies [...]
Budget 2020: Business rates cut for more small leisure and retail firms March 11, 2020 Small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will be exempt from paying business rates for one year as part of an emergency budget to protect the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. All retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be exempt from paying business rates over [...]
UK’s wage subsidy scheme on track for April roll out April 8, 2020 The government’s wage subsidy scheme is on track to be open on schedule as the nation’s top taxman warns it could be targeted by fraudsters. The Job Retention Scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, for employees that have been unable to work during the Covid-19 crisis [...]
Before the Bell: Coronavirus mutation unsettles the market as London faces Tier 3 December 15, 2020 European markets underwent a rather mixed session yesterday, with the FTSE100 underperforming after it was announced that London and a good part of the south east of England was being put into tier 3 restrictions at midnight tonight, due to a new strain of the coronavirus which was spreading at a faster rate. “This of [...]
Travel sector pleads for government support to stave off sweeping job cuts September 2, 2020 Leading figures from across the UK travel industry have come together in an urgent plea for government support to help stave off hundreds of thousands of potential job cuts. In an open letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak and transport secretary Grant Shapps, which has now been signed by over 10,000 people, the “Save Travel” campaign [...]