Summer budget 2015: What to watch out for July 7, 2015 WHO: GEORGE OSBORNE WHEN: 12.30PM TODAY WHERE: HOUSE OF COMMONS WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW Extended Sunday shop hours The chancellor will unveil plans to devolve powers to mayors or councils to decide for themselves what the rule over trading hours should be in their areas, paving the way for shops and supermarkets to stay open later on [...]
July Budget 2015: From benefits caps and child tax credits cuts to pension and inheritance tax changes, here’s what to expect July 7, 2015 Tomorrow, George Osborne takes to the despatch box for his first truly Conservative Budget – indeed, the first majority Conservative Budget since 1996. The chancellor is notoriously good at trailing the contents of his Budgets before he stands up – so what do we know so far? Read more: Budget live – all the key announcements [...]
Two more bad arguments for why Britain needs a mandatory living wage July 6, 2015 With £12bn of working age welfare cuts expected in this Budget, Conservative voices are clamouring for the “living wage” to be used as a means of reducing in-work poverty. In the past week, two celebrity former advisers to the Prime Minister, Steve Hilton and Rohan Silva, have argued the government should boost the national minimum [...]
July Budget 2015: Boris Johnson says cut top tax rate and introduce living wage July 6, 2015 Boris Johnson has said he thinks the government should cut the top rate of income tax from 45 pence and simultaneously make some of Britain's biggest companies pay the living wage. The London mayor argues only boosting the income of society's richest individuals is unfair, and should be matched with pay increases for low-paid employees [...]
July Budget 2015: Pressure mounts on government to back a living wage July 5, 2015 Raising the minimum wage to the so-called “living wage” would lift 6m people out of poverty and generate more than £4bn of additional revenue, according to a new report out today from KPMG. The living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation charity, is £7.85 per hour nationally and £9.15 in London. The national [...]
How Argentina’s struggle in the late 1990s could provide lessons to Greek leaders June 26, 2015 As Greece teeters on the brink of default, its leaders could do worse than to look to Argentina's own tussle with default back in the late 1990s. Why they're similar Like Greece, the economic crisis in Argentina began against a backdrop of deregulation and financial liberalisation – although in Argentina's case, its convertibilidad policy pegged the [...]
Retailers send George Osborne their budget wish list June 21, 2015 British retailers are calling on the chancellor to eschew the living wage and introduce new measures to boost productivity in next month’s emergency budget. In a new submission to chancellor George Osborne, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that it wants the government to “work with the retail industry to ensure that employees are [...]
Sterling jumps as UK wage growth smashes expectations and unemployment falls again June 17, 2015 The pound leaped 0.54 per cent against the dollar to $1.5715 this morning, after data from the Office for National Statistics showed wages grew 2.7 per cent between February and April. Wage growth is at its fastest rate since Augest 2001, smashing expectations of 2.5 per cent. It is significantly higher than inflation, which stands at 0.1 [...]
Don’t fear an increasing minimum wage – it helps the country’s poorest June 11, 2015 The great challenge for the government over the next five years is to raise productivity and living standards, while also continuing in its efforts to cut the deficit. Significant reform to planning, skills, tax and regulation will all be necessary. But one regulation which should not be abolished is the National Minimum Wage (NMW). When [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Here’s everything that was said about the EU referendum, employment, tax, the Human Rights Act and Scottish devolution May 27, 2015 The EU referendum is on; taxes will be locked in at current levels and strike laws are being reformed. The Queen's Speech has come to an end, and we have been presented with the legislation the government intends to pursue over the coming parliamentary session. While global cooperation, reducing the deficit and sticking to the [...]