Budget 2017 UK: “T-Levels” shake-up for young people’s technical training promised by Philip Hammond March 8, 2017 The government is promising to invest fresh cash in preparing young people for the new global economy with investment in technical training. Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed the new £500m plans he called "game-changing" in his Spring Budget on Wednesday. The radical overhaul of post-16 education will see a dizzying array of 13,000 different qualifications whittled down [...]
Budget 2017: UK growth prospects upgraded by government’s forecaster March 8, 2017 The UK economy is set to grow much quicker than previously thought, according to the government's official forecaster, boosting chancellor Philip Hammond's efforts to cut public sector borrowing. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) now forecasts growth of two per cent in 2017, chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his Spring Budget statement, while inflation is [...]
LIVE: Budget 2017 – reaction to chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech March 8, 2017 Live coverage of Philip Hammond's first (and last) Spring Budget, with measures expected on Stamp Duty, T-levels, business rates, national insurance and fuel duty.
Budget 2017 UK: When does Philip Hammond’s Spring Budget speech start and where can I watch it? March 8, 2017 How much more will you be paying for a pint? We'll soon find out as chancellor Philip Hammond will unveil new spending powers this week. What is the Spring Budget? This will be Hammond's first and last Spring Budget, as the annual Budget announcement is set to move to a new schedule focused on the [...]
A forecast for a bounce in the UK’s GDP has put a spring in Philip Hammond’s step ahead of his first Budget March 8, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond will today give an upbeat assessment on the future of the British economy in his debut Budget, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) becomes the latest body to upgrade its UK growth forecasts. The influential Paris-based OECD yesterday said UK GDP growth will reach 1.6 per cent this year, up [...]
Why we should cheer on chancellor Philip Hammond -aka Spreadsheet Phil – during today’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Cast your minds back to November 2015, when George Osborne was still chancellor of the exchequer and Brexit was merely a twinkle in Boris Johnson’s artful eyes. Osborne was under pressure to scrap his proposed cuts to tax credits following an intense political storm. Fortunately for David Cameron’s right hand man, the government’s fiscal watchdog presented [...]
Work and Pensions Committee to pick over Vauxhall pension scheme and its £840m deficit, as well as retirement funds at BHS and Bernard Matthews March 7, 2017 A group of MPs revealed today they are having a closer look at Vauxhall's pension pot, the day after it was announced the European unit of the motoring brand's owner was being purchased by French car firm PSA. The Work and Pensions Committee also said it is scrutinising the status of Bernard Matthews' retirement funds and the recent £363m settlement [...]
Spring Budget 2017: What should chancellor Philip Hammond’s headline promise be tomorrow? March 7, 2017 Sam Dumitriu, head of projects at the Adam Smith Institute, says scrap a tax: Not all taxes are created equal, but almost all deter productive activity. Philip Hammond should look to Lord Lawson’s stint where he abolished at least one tax every Budget and took an axe to top marginal rates. So where should he [...]
Budget 2017 UK: Buzzword predictions and Philip Hammond’s speech odds from bookies – Brexit, Trump and the NHS March 7, 2017 Brace yourself… there's a Budget coming. Philip Hammond will be making his first speech laying out plans for spending and the telling the nation about the state of the economy in his Spring Budget on Wednesday. What's in store from the newbie chancellor? And will he be picking up from where his predecessor George Osborne left [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]