New £500m university science grant can ‘commercialise discoveries’ November 13, 2024 The government has announced it will stump up £500m for 4,700 post-graduate engineering and science university places in a bid to drive long-term economic growth. Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle made the announcement today, with universities and industry set to reap the benefits. The scheme will fund 4,700 new places, equating to around £106,000 [...]
Ex-Bank top economist Haldane says UK can strike Trump trade deal and boost EU ties November 12, 2024 The Bank of England’s ex-chief economist has said Keir Starmer can simultaneously strike a trade deal with Donald Trump and rebuild relations with the EU to show the UK is "open for business".
Strong governments must be prepared to upset the markets (a bit) November 12, 2024 The bond markets are a potent opposition, but governments must be prepared to take risks if they are ever to reap rewards, says Charles White-Thomson With a large majority and an election years away, the Prime Minister and Chancellor likely don’t feel the need to worry too much about what the electorate think. But one [...]
Vodafone boss shrugs off Budget as company set to double-down on UK November 12, 2024 The boss of the FTSE 100 telecoms giant Vodafone has shrugged off suggestions Labour’s tax-raising Budget will have an impact on the business. Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle estimated the Budget’s total cost to Vodafone at around £10m in a call with investors and analysts following its half-year results, published this morning. “In the [...]
US election shows voters care more about inflation than growth November 12, 2024 Donald Trump's re-election as President has raised fundamental questions for Labour's economic and political agenda, writes Chris Dorrell
All hail the regulator going for growth November 12, 2024 At last month’s Investment Summit in the City, Keir Starmer set out an admirably clear view of how he wants this country’s regulatory bodies to work, telling delegates: “we will make sure that every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, takes growth as seriously as this room does.” There’s been no [...]
Labour will be thinking global, but their fortunes depend on the local November 12, 2024 Labour strategists will be focused on what Trump’s victory means for Britain and the world, but the government will soon face big challenges at the local level, says James Nation Following on from the US election result, takes abound on what Trump 2.0 means for the world and for the UK. On the economy, there [...]
Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor November 11, 2024 The government is under increasing pressure to revisit its hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage after a number of the UK’s largest employers voiced concerns about the impact of the changes on their costs and operations. Over 200 of the UK’s biggest hospitality businesses signed a letter to the Chancellor yesterday [...]
The real reason Britain doesn’t build November 11, 2024 Planning isn’t the only reason we have a housing shortage, too many developments just aren’t economically viable, says Melanie Leech The government is undoubtedly right to focus its efforts on reforming the planning system. Ask the anyone in the property industry and they will say that the system is complex, burdensome, under-resourced, and prone to [...]
Starmer appoints Jonathan Powell as UK national security adviser November 8, 2024 Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Tony Blair’s former chief of staff Jonathan Powell as his national security adviser. The Cabinet Office confirmed the former Foreign Office diplomat and No10 chief operator would take on the key role advising the Prime Minister in an announcement today. It comes amid the re-election of Donald Trump as US [...]