Autumn Statement 2015: Institute for Fiscal Studies says Osborne got “lucky” this time around November 26, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne may not have made the severe cuts to public spending that many had expected in yesterday's Autumn Statement and Spending Review, but a leading economist has warned that the age of austerity is far from over and the chancellor's goal of a surplus by the end of the decade may prove difficult to achieve. [...]
Will 2017 be one of the best years ever for the United Kingdom? January 3, 2017 Alex Deane, a City of London common councilman, says Yes. We live in a great country – and what’s even better is that our best days lie ahead of us. When historians write the book on 2016, it will be seen as the year in which – despite the doomsaying pronouncements from some who were [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne confirms new flat state pension will be £155.65 a week November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne today said that the new flat state pension will be £155.65 a week, while the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from April. It came as he promised to maintain the state pension "triple lock" – meaning they'll rise in line with the highest of inflation, earnings or at [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: The seven invisible rabbits that will help George Osborne balance his books November 25, 2015 The first Autumn Statement of a new parliament is a big event in the economic calendar. Yesterday’s statement by George Osborne was made, so we thought, against a difficult background: the latest statistics on public receipts and spending had been disappointing; the re-classification of the Housing Associations as public entities had put up his starting [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: British Chambers of Commerce wants cuts for tax admin costs November 18, 2015 A leading business group has written to ministers asking for new measures to cut the costs of tax administration in next week’s Autumn Statement. In an open letter to cabinet office minister Oliver Letwin and business secretary Sajid Javid, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that the cost of complying with tax requirements has [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: It’s now time for George Osborne to deliver on the tax cut pledge November 26, 2015 It's a tried and tested rhetorical technique: when you have bad news, make out that it’s far worse than it actually is. Lower expectations. Create a sense of doom. And then reveal to your neighbours that, actually, their dog’s not dead – the whining little mutt has only broken its leg. George Osborne had been [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Institute for Fiscal Studies says Osborne got “lucky” this time around November 26, 2015 NULL
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne delivers some relief to embattled UK steel industry November 25, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has cut costs for energy intensive industries, such as the embattled steel sector, in a bid to give them long-term certainty. Osborne, who was addressing parliament with his Autumn Statement today, said: "We're going to permanently exempt our energy intensive industries … from the cost of environmental tariffs, so we keep their bills down, keep them [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Why the Government Digital Services needs a boost from George Osborne November 25, 2015 Pity the bureaucrats this morning. Civil servants across Whitehall have been asked to impose more major cuts to departmental spending. BIS faces a cut of 17 per cent by 2020, while Transport will lose 37 per cent. Others, however, have been spared – some quite unexpectedly. The Arts Council’s budget will be increased, in spite [...]
Autumn statement 2015: Chancellor George Osborne pledges to spend £600m on mental health November 25, 2015 In his first Autumn Statement as Chancellor since the Conservatives won a majority in May's General Election, George Osborne committed to putting more money into improving mental health in the UK. Praising Alistair Campbell, Andrew Mitchell and Norman Lamb for their mental health campaigning, he said during today's spending review that an additional £600m of government funding would [...]