Exclusive: Londoners absorb heaviest national insurance hike hit May 3, 2022 Londoners have suffered the worst blow to their finances in the UK in the first month the national insurance hike has been in effect, reveals exclusive research shared with City A.M. today. Workers in the capital have absorbed a near £300m blow to their budgets from higher national insurance bills, the biggest jump in the [...]
CBI: Firms need help to make it through summer May 1, 2022 Firms might need further support before the autumn Budget to help tackle rising costs, according to a business group. The CBI highlighted the near-term challenges that companies are facing, especially energy intensive firms. A survey by the group found that growth in private sector activity including consumer services and distribution sales remained “steady” in the [...]
Brits slash spending in another sign of looming economic woe April 27, 2022 The worsening cost of living shock is prompting Brits to cut back on unnecessary purchases in a further sign the UK economy is headed for a period of worse than expected growth, reveals fresh figures published today. Households are shunning luxury items in response to their living standards suffering a heavy blow from the highest [...]
If the Conservatives want to survive, they need to regain their economic credibility April 27, 2022 Now, people’s money is counting for less and less as inflation pushes prices up. And a YouGov poll put Labour ahead of the Conservatives on six out of seven economic trackers. For the first time, the same number of people think a Labour government led by Keir Starmer would be better at managing the economy as those believe the same of a Boris-Johnson led Conservative government.
Households face extra £271 on annual food bill as grocery inflation highest since 2011 April 26, 2022 Households are facing an additional £271 to their grocery bill, with price inflation now standing at the highest level in over a decade. According to fresh data from Kantar, grocery price inflation has reached 5.9 per cent, the highest level since December 2011. Brits are facing a slew of price increases this spring, as businesses [...]
Rain Newton-Smith interview: Go for growth to turbocharge economic resilience April 22, 2022 Everyone knows the dismal time the UK economy is in for over the coming year – but let’s recap. Living standards are scheduled to fall at the steepest rate in 66 years as a result of wages failing to keep pace with an average annual inflation rate of over seven per cent, according to the [...]
Two-in-five Brits now say they think that Rishi Sunak is ‘incompetent’ April 21, 2022 A new survey has revealed 40 per cent of Brits now think Rishi Sunak is “incompetent” – a 23 per cent increase from January. The YouGov poll also found that 38 per cent of Brits think the chancellor is “competent”, which is a 16 per cent drop from last year. It comes as Sunak’s public [...]
UK housing market shows signs of stability with Brits’ reluctant to spend April 21, 2022 The UK’s housing market could be returning to stability, say analysts, before deals pick up as warmer weather blankets the country. Residential transactions for March have plunged more than a third in comparison with the same month last year, according to the government’s latest figures, after a continued, pandemic-era, buying frenzy. Although deals have climbed [...]
Balancing the budget won’t win voters hooked on Sunak’s years of spending April 20, 2022 On a balmy September day eight years ago, Ed Miliband strode onto the stage at Labour Party Conference and proceeded to deliver a marathon 66-minute speech without notes. Unfortunately for the then Labour leader, he managed to forget a key chunk of his prepared remarks – the bit about tackling the deficit. Cue glee from [...]
Easter Reads part one: the best in our opinion pages on politics, the economy and Ukraine April 16, 2022 Back when partygate was “seemingly” subsiding, Giles Kenningham looked at another political headache for Johnson, one with a much longer legacy: the future of the Union. The pandemic gave a taste of greater independence to the devolved nations, and now some want to keep it – surely, that’s the case with Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon. To [...]