Sunak gives with one hand and takes with another to paint a positive veneer March 28, 2022 LAST week’s spring statement—the chancellor’s mini-budget, and a significant opportunity to lay out priorities and plans—was a big event for Rishi Sunak. While Covid cases persist and people are still dying, there is a broader feeling that the pandemic is now under control, and that the country can now think about moving into a post-virus [...]
Sunak eyes another council tax rebate after poor response to his spring statement March 28, 2022 Rishi Sunak is considering a further council tax rebate for Brits struggling with the cost of living crisis, after his spring economic statement was met by a very poor response on Wednesday. The chancellor is reportedly now looking into offering a further multi-billion pound package to help people with soaring energy bills and other household [...]
Sunak wants to be a low-tax Tory but instead he’s following the US and picking winners March 25, 2022 When Frank Sinatra first uttered the words “the best is yet to come”, the UK’s fiscal strategy probably couldn’t have been further from his mind. But the words ring true after a spring statement that did little to make life any easier for those of us who make a living trying to read the Chancellor’s [...]
The City View: More Spring Statement analysis, and The Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker distills her craft March 24, 2022 Today Andy Silvester chats to Economics and Markets reporter Jack Barnett — they look back on yesterday’s Spring Statement; go through dire IFS figures; and discuss lack of growth in the UK economy. Andy also takes us through the business news: P&O are in even more hot water; and the CEO of convenience store operator [...]
Rishi Sunak has shown his true colours by hiding stealth tax rises in the detail March 24, 2022 Don’t be fooled, Rishi Sunak is a fiscal conservative first, and a low-tax conservative second. This was a tax-cutting spring statement, but as the Office Budget Responsibility (OBR) pointed out, on balance Sunak has been a tax-hiking Chancellor. In fact, the net cut to personal taxes introduced at the Spring Statement offsets “just over a [...]
Cost of living squeeze already biting UK economy as experts warn worst is still to come March 24, 2022 The damage the cost of living squeeze is inflicting on UK households is already starting to weigh on the economy as top forecasters warn the worst effects of spiralling living standards are yet to come. A fresh flurry of data released today revealed consumers are slashing spending to alleviate pressure on their finances caused by [...]
Sunak’s decision to hike national insurance while cutting income tax is ‘indefensible’ March 24, 2022 Top economic forecasters today slammed Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decision to push ahead with the national insurance tax hike while cutting the basic rate of income tax as “indefensible”. All of the windfall households will receive from lower income tax bills will be offset by fiscal drag and a 1.25 percentage point national insurance uplift and [...]
Potatoes are off the table with higher gas bills March 24, 2022 Yesterday, after the Chancellor unveiled his spending review, food banks pushed back as grim figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility warned of the biggest fall in household’s disposable incomes since records began. Richard Walker, the Managing Director of Iceland, gave a stark warning. He told the BBC that some food bank users were declining [...]
Rishi Sunak admits Brits face ‘challenging and uncertain’ times after Spring Budget March 24, 2022 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the country is facing “challenging and uncertain” times after official forecasters predicted the biggest fall in living standards on record. Following his spring statement on Wednesday, the Chancellor insisted the Government was “on the side of hard-working families”. But Labour said that he had done nothing to tackle the cost-of-living [...]
Poverty looms for 600,000 Brits after Spring Budget as benefits fall behind inflation and tax jumps March 24, 2022 Around 600,000 people will be pulled into poverty, of which around a quarter are children, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. In fact, families in poverty will be £446 per year worse off in 2022-23 compared to if benefits had been uprated in line with current inflation levels. Households in poverty [...]