Over three quarters of UK households anticipate the Bank of England to increase interest rates in the next 12 months August 19, 2015 Over three quarters of UK households expect the Bank of England (BoE) to raise the interest rate in the next 12 months, according to the Markit Household Finance Index. The August survey indicated UK households are continuing to bring forward expectations regarding the next interest rate rise by the Bank of England. Read more: Super [...]
Lost cost airline Norwegian will offer £179 flights from London to Boston August 19, 2015 If the price of travel to the States was putting you off, fret no more. You will soon be able to travel to the city of the Boston Celtics and sitcom Cheers for just £179. Norwegian, a low cost airline, will be offering four flights a week from Gatwick to Boston from May 2016, the [...]
Five charts showing where political parties get their money August 19, 2015 Unions donated more to political parties than companies did in the second quarter of 2015, while both lagged behind the value of individual donations, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission, the independent party funding watchdog. Overall, 12 political parties registered in Great Britain reported almost £21m in total donations in the second quarter of [...]
Greek debt crisis: German lawmakers vote yes to bailout deal August 19, 2015 After German lawmakers were recalled early from their holidays (sun in Greece, perhaps?), the Bundestag has voted in favour of a third Greek bailout deal worth €86bn (£61bn). The vote passed with a majority of 454 in favour, 113 against and 18 abstentions. Ahead of the vote, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has taken [...]
Over-qualified and under-employed: The majority of graduates are “in non-graduate jobs”, says the CIPD August 19, 2015 New graduates are being massively under-employed when they try to join the labour market, with thousands taking their first step in their career in jobs that don't require their hard-won degrees, a new study has found. The research, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found graduate over-qualification has reached “saturation point”, with [...]
Sadiq Khan gains backing of Neil Kinnock to be Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London August 18, 2015 Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has pledged his support to Sadiq Khan to become the Labour candidate for London mayor. Writing for the Mirror, Kinnock said: “Labour must recapture City Hall, and our best chance of doing that is with Sadiq Khan as our candidate for London mayor in 2016.” Read more: Meet London mayor [...]
Nationwide attacks bank surcharge, accusing George Osborne of targeting building societies August 18, 2015 Britain’s second largest mortgage lender has said chancellor George Osborne’s new bank tax will cost it £300m over the next five years. The move by Osborne to replace the bank levy with a surcharge will “disproportionately” hit building societies, Nationwide chief executive has Graham Beale said. Osborne announced in the July Budget that the annual [...]
Labour leadership race: Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham pledge to work together while Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham tell each other to withdraw from the contest August 18, 2015 Is there a bromance blossoming among Labour leadership candidates? After Andy Burnham used a speech to praise Jeremy Corbyn and offer him a role in "rebuilding" the party, Corbyn has said he could work with Burnham, too. Speaking to BBC's Newsnight, Corbyn said: “Obviously there has to be a party of all the talents and [...]
Executive pay: Capping bosses’ salaries will not raise the salaries of people at the bottom August 17, 2015 Today’s briefing paper from the High Pay Centre (HPC) has zoned in on the gap between FTSE 100 chief executive pay and the average salary of UK workers in 2014: 183/1. Perhaps it is the HPC’s emphasis – or perhaps it is the world’s recent focus on inequality – that has most people, in the media and [...]
Labour leadership race: Former foreign secretary David Miliband pledges support to Liz Kendall while warning of the risks of electing Jeremy Corbyn August 17, 2015 Former Labour frontbencher David Miliband has pledged his support to Liz Kendall in the Labour leadership contest. Writing in the Guardian, Miliband said he has been “struck since the beginning of the campaign by the plain speaking, fresh thinking and political courage of Liz Kendall and the new generation of politicians – Chuka Umunna, Emma [...]