What was in the 2015 Queen’s Speech, bill-by-bill May 28, 2015 A full employment and welfare benefits bill aiming to create 2m more jobs and 3m more apprenticeships An enterprise bill to cut red tape and help small and medium-sized businesses resolve late payment disputes A personal tax allowance bill raising the personal allowance to £12,500 and linking future increases to the minimum wage A finance bill [...]
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 [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Business community and others react to announcements on immigration, housing, employment, tax, Scotland and English devolution May 27, 2015 The Queen's Speech – the first full-Tory state opening of Parliament since 1996 – has come and gone. But what is the business community making of it all? Here are the best reactions so far. On the tax lock: Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants says: “This is a [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Everything we know so far including the EU referendum, devolution, Human Rights Act, income tax, housing and Scotland May 26, 2015 The Queen's Speech will unveil the Conservative government's policy agenda on Wednesday and having shed its coalition partner at the General Election, some pretty major shifts in policy are expected. Here are some of the top pledges expected to feature in the state opening of parliament tomorrow. EU referendum bill Having committed to holding an [...]
Business rejects PM’s crackdown on immigration May 21, 2015 BUSINESS organisations have roundly rejected the Prime Minister’s latest calls for immigration reform. David Cameron said yesterday that the Queen’s Speech would include an immigration bill cracking down not only on illegal foreign workers, but also on the landlords, banks and employers who aid them. The Prime Minister also said that he would not “cave in” and [...]
Why it’s highly unlikely that David Cameron’s immigration crackdown will work May 21, 2015 The government yesterday unveiled its latest plan to crack down on illegal immigration, by making it significantly less attractive for people to remain in the UK, working illegally. To achieve this, it is proposing to introduce a new criminal offence – “illegal working” – together with plans to seize the wages of those working illegally. [...]
UK immigration: These charts show how net migration has increased, where migrants are coming from and why they migrate May 21, 2015 Just as Prime Minister David Cameron outlined his stance on tackling immigration, figures were published showing net long-term migration to the UK last year rose to the highest level in nearly a decade, reaching an estimated 318,000 over the 12 months. In total 641,000 people immigrated to the UK, up from 526,000 the previous [...]
David Cameron: Firms must crack down on illegal migrants May 21, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron took his hardest line yet on illegal immigration this morning, when he introduced sweeping legislation cracking down not only on foreign workers, but on the landlords, banks and employers that help them as well. In a speech today in Westminster, Cameron said the Queen’s Speech will include an immigration bill intended to [...]
EU migration rules: This is how resettled refugees would be allocated to each country May 13, 2015 This morning the European Commission outlined its emergency migration measures, designed to reduce the number of people making their way across the Mediterranean on boats. The plans included four "pillars" to stem the flow of people making the perilous journey, including a resettlement programme, funded with €50m of EU money, under which as many as [...]
General Election 2015: WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell wants a UK version of the Chinese Five Year Plan and an acknowledgement that immigration benefits the economy May 5, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 1 DAY TO GO We have been asking a business leader each day to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. SIR MARTIN SORRELL: FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF WPP 1. Articulate a practical overall economic plan covering, among other things, education, infrastructure investment (hard [...]