Displaying items by tag: finance

Friday, 13 May 2022 09:40

Recession and windfall tax

The UK could be heading for a recession. The economy contracted by 0.1% in March, and higher prices are ‘really beginning to bite’, the Office for National Statistics said. People are spending less in shops and cutting down on car journeys; the impact of higher energy bills in April has also yet to be seen. Many price rises are just starting to hit households now. Last week the Bank of England forecast that inflation could reach more than 10% by the end of the year. It warned the UK faces a ‘sharp economic slowdown’. The chancellor has threatened to hit energy companies with a one-off ‘windfall’ tax if they don't invest enough in new projects. Opposition parties want to tax the soaring profits of oil and gas firms to help families grappling with rising bills. Treasury officials have been ordered to examine a potential tax, and Boris Johnson said the Government would have to look at the windfall proposal if not enough investment was made.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 24 March 2022 21:29

Spring statement as cost of living soars

Rishi Sunak delivered his mini-Budget against a backdrop of rising fuel, energy and food costs. He cut fuel duty by 5p but resisted calls to scrap April's National Insurance rise of 1.25p in the pound; instead the start threshold will rise from £9,600 to £12,570. He warned the UK's post-pandemic recovery has been blown off course by the war in Ukraine, but he promised an income tax cut in 2024 when the economy would be in better shape. The Office for Budget Responsibility painted a bleak picture of the immediate prospects, saying that living standards are set to take the biggest hit since records began in the 1950s. It said inflation was set to peak at 8.7% at the end of this year and this - combined with rising taxes - will ‘weigh heavily on living standards in the coming twelve months’. The UK's tax burden will be the highest level since the 1940s.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 24 March 2022 21:22

CAP: Government must act

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a Christian debt help charity which is calling on the Government to 'act now' and increase support for those on low incomes with everything at its disposal. They saw calls to their debt helpline rise by 47% this January compared to last year, and requests for emergency fuel vouchers have doubled. CAP said, ‘We, along with many other charities and think-tanks, say that the upgrading of Social Security (the amount benefits and pensions go up in April) needs to be more than planned. Also they could pause deductions to Universal Credit as they did at the beginning of the pandemic. The third thing needed is a cost of living review; the level of social security has not matched the actual cost of living, even for the barest of essentials, for many, many years.’

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 24 March 2022 21:18

Church leaders call for renewable energy

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and 200+ church leaders sent an open letter to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. They said a stronger commitment to renewable energy would help address the climate emergency and help people to weather the cost of living crisis. Letter signatories include fifty Anglican and Catholic bishops, including the lead environment bishops. Their call for financial and fiscal support for renewable energy and energy efficiency - solar and wind energy - was met in the spring statement, but retrofitting of homes and other buildings across the UK to reduce heating bills and decrease carbon emissions was not. They also proposed a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies to address the cost of living and no support for new oil and gas developments if we are to limit global heating to 1.5°C.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 17 March 2022 21:36

Another rise in Interest rates

On 17 March Interest rates rose again for the third time in four months to counter higher prices and calm the rise in the cost of living. It means interest rates are now at their highest level since March 2020, when the Covid pandemic began. Energy bills and food costs are increasing and there is concern the war in Ukraine will push prices up further. Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, is currently 5.5%, well above the Bank of England's 2% target. The Bank expects inflation to reach 8%, possibly higher, in coming months, and cited rising prices and strong employment as the reasons for the latest rise. About two million households will see an immediate increase of about £26 a month to a typical tracker mortgage, and £16 to a typical standard variable rate mortgage.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 10 March 2022 20:53

Inflation and household bills

With inflation rising, young people are feeling the pinch more than ever. In a national poll conducted at the beginning of 2022, which involved more than 11,000 people, London came out bottom - with just 37% of Londoners saying they felt their rent was affordable. There is also a gender gap, with 1/3 of women in London spending over 50% of their salary on rent, compared with 1/4 of men. See The Resolution Foundation said the dramatic increase in global oil and gas prices was forecast to push UK inflation above 8% this spring, causing average incomes across Britain to fall by 4% in the coming financial year. That is worth £1,000 per household, the biggest annual decline since 1975. It warned chancellor Rishi Sunak that urgent steps were required to help the poorest families in Britain with soaring living costs, adding that weak wage growth and high inflation would drive more children into poverty.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 03 March 2022 22:30

Sanctioned elsewhere but not by the UK

There are several individuals being sanctioned by other nations but not by the UK. Oleg Deripaska was sanctioned by America for money laundering, ordering the murder of a business rival, illegally wiretapping government officials, extortion, racketeering and bribing government officials. He owns 45% of an aluminium company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and former Conservative energy minister Lord Barker is its executive chairman. The Russian state-owned VTB bank was suspended from the Stock Exchange but Andrey Kostin, president of the bank, is not sanctioned. Victor Zolotov, also on the EU's list but not UK's, leads Russia's national guard. His family is one of the richest in Russia in the real estate sector, with property portfolios in the UK. Pro-Kremlin billionaire Alisher Usmanov founded Russian-based USM which owns major iron, steel and copper suppliers and a telecommunications company, and has commercial ties to Everton Football Club (which has suspended its sponsorship contracts with USM).

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 03 March 2022 22:28

‘Chaotic’ Kickstart scheme for youth fails

The Public Accounts Committee supported the Department for Work and Pensions as it tried to help young people into work at what was expected to be a downturn in employment opportunities. But the £1.9 billion ‘emergency intervention’ Kickstart scheme has supported far fewer young people than predicted. Early delivery was chaotic and DWP ‘neglected to put in place basic management information that would be expected for a multi-billion-pound grant programme’. Also, despite more favourable than predicted economic conditions, many young people who joined Universal Credit when the pandemic started have remained on the benefit. DWP doesn’t know why these people are not in Kickstart jobs.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 03 December 2021 10:07

Over 17 million use ‘buy now, pay later’

More than 17 million UK customers have now used a buy now pay later (BNPL) company to make an online purchase. The payment method is also set to have its biggest Christmas yet. BNPL firms allow people to manage their shopping, either by postponing their bill for a short while, or splitting it into more manageable chunks over time, interest free. But users too easily end up in debt and tougher rules are needed. Klarna, the biggest UK provider, has seen its customer base double to 15 million since 2020. Other companies, Clearpay and LayBuy, are also expanding fast. The fastest growth is among 40- and 50-year-olds. A recent Citizens Advice survey found almost one in ten plan to use BNPL for Christmas shopping. Citizens Advice urges consumers considering using BNPL to ensure they understand what they are signing up for, how they will make the repayments, and what will happen if they can't pay on time.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 28 October 2021 21:45

Budget taxation and spending

The chancellor pledged increasing public spending amid higher than expected economic growth. Whitehall departments will receive a rise of £150bn over the course of this parliament, the largest increase this century. There is extra money for schools, tax cuts for businesses and a cut in air duties for internal flights. A changed alcohol duty will see cheaper sparkling wine and draught beer, and the planned fuel duty rise is cancelled. Amid huge concern over the £20 cut to Universal Credit, changes will be made to let working claimants keep more of their benefits. There is new money for the NHS, a rise in the National Living Wage, and public sector pay rises. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said inflation and higher taxes on incomes would negate small wage increases for middle earners. Low-income households will see the cost of living increase faster than benefit payments. The chancellor acknowledged in his budget that families are under strain: see

Published in British Isles
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