Jeremy Corbyn v David Cameron at first PMQs: A more “adult” discussion from Labour’s new leader September 16, 2015 The eagerly-awaited showdown between Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron was surprising in its timidity. Corbyn, previously promising a different kind of Prime Minister's Questions, was met by a Cameron willing to accommodate what Corbyn called a "more adult way". Corbyn began by recanting how he previously sent an email asking people to submit questions to [...]
Complacency about Jeremy Corbyn is dangerous: He could push UK politics in a populist direction September 15, 2015 It wasn't that long ago, but it is easy to forget the market uncertainty that preceded the General Election in May, and the relief rally in UK shares that followed it. We saw particularly strong performance in equities sensitive to the outlook for domestic consumption after the election of a modest Conservative majority, deemed [...]
National living wage for over-25s to have modest impact on costs September 14, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne’s new Living Wage, a higher minimum wage for over-25s, will be affordable to most industries but could severely impact others, a think tank said today. Around half of the employees set to benefit from the National Living Wage (NLW) are in industries where the resulting wage bill increase will by 0.6 [...]
Pay to return to pre-crisis levels in 2017, think tank predicts, but warns of inflation rise risk September 13, 2015 Pay will return to pre-crisis levels by 2017 if economic trends continue, a think tank predicts, however rising inflation could push that off-course. The latest research by the Resolution Foundation predicts that average weekly earnings grew by between 2.7 per cent and 2.8 per cent in the three months to July, in line with the [...]
JD Wetherspoon hits out at government’s Living Wage September 11, 2015 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has become the most recent in a series of companies to hit out at the government’s Living Wage. In the company’s preliminary yearly results, the pub chain said the government is putting pubs under financial strain. Read more: National living wage – All businesses will end up paying it – but [...]
Next share price: Sales rise but clothing retailer warns of national living wage costs September 11, 2015 Next warned yesterday the government’s so-called national living wage – a pay rise for over-25’s currently on the minimum wage – will cost the firm £27m each year as it revealed its half-year results. The clothing chain said next year’s hike will cost the business just £2m but thereafter the increases will be much [...]
The National Living Wage could make eradicating the deficit a three Parliament problem September 10, 2015 Today we have upgraded our forecast for UK GDP growth to 2.6 per cent for this year and next. On the face of it, we should be content with such an outcome, particularly when looking at the economic problems facing the Eurozone and the recent slowdown in China that has reverberated across markets around the [...]
Living Wage: Morrisons boss Dave Potts joins Next, John Lewis and Whitbread in warning of extra staff costs September 10, 2015 The cost of the National Living Wage is stacking up rapidly. Morrisons has today admitted that the introduction of the government-imposed measure next year is going cost the supermarket group “10s of millions of pounds” on top of the costs the business is already battling with to turn itself around. From April next year, businesses [...]
Next’s share price climbs as profits and sales rise, but retailer warns that Living Wage will cost retailer £27m a year September 10, 2015 Next's share price climbed this morning after the high street giant revealed better-than-expected results, keeping it ahead of Marks & Spencer yet again. Total sales up 2.7 per cent for the first half to the end of July. Pre-tax profits were up 7.1 per cent, while earnings per share rose eight per cent, thanks [...]
George Osborne’s national living wage under attack September 10, 2015 The government's new national living wage (NLW) will offer little relief to workers, according to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The IFS said any benefits for employees on the new minimum wage would barely offset the negative impact of other changes proposed by chancellor George Osborne to the tax [...]