July Budget 2015: George Osborne increased welfare in coalition by £28bn. Where is it spent? July 7, 2015 Welfare is one of the big topics of the upcoming July Budget, and so it’s probably important to know where the vast sums of money go. The UK government spent £251bn on welfare payments during the financial year 2013-14, representing 37 per cent of all government spending, data released by the Office of National Statistics [...]
Greek crisis: Junker says Greece’s referendum result is an “irrelevant circus” July 7, 2015 President of the European Commission, Jean-Claud Juncker, has told Greek voters that the country’s referendum result is an “irrelevant circus” as it was based on an illegitimate question. He accused the Greek government of ignoring rationality and acting emotionally by calling a vote, questioning if a “no” vote really meant no. This comes just days [...]
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 [...]
Heathrow is just one decision where the government could be falling short of its infrastructure promises July 3, 2015 The recommendation that Heathrow should have a third runway sent ripples of disbelief among business communities in the UK regions. Not the least of those was the West Midlands. They had hoped that the Davies Commission on the future of aviation would advocate measures that would help rebalance the economy, a frequent promise from Prime [...]
July Budget 2015: Chancellor George Osborne plans to crack down on non-doms July 3, 2015 George Osborne wants to clamp down on non-doms in his July Budget, a move which could raise £5bn by cutting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. Read more: Non-doms pay £6bn in income tax and Labour's ban could damage the UK's ability to attract entrepreneurs In a political statement suggesting the rich will shoulder some of [...]
Mr. Kipling serves up 80 new jobs as food minister Liz Truss unveils £20m investment July 3, 2015 The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Liz Truss, has unveiled a £20m investment in a new production line at the Mr. Kipling factory. The Mr Kipling bakery in Barnsley will more than double the capacity of Mr. Kipling Snack Pack cake slices (hooray) to keep pace with growing demand and improve [...]
Aetna to buy rival Humana for $37bn in a cash and shares deal July 3, 2015 The US health insurer Aetna has struck a deal to buy its rival Humana for $37bn (£23.7bn) in cash and shares, which Aetna says will create the second-largest managed care company in the US. Aetna will acquire outstanding shares of Humana at around $230 per share, according to a joint statement by the two companies. [...]
RBS share price falls as it could face $13bn penalty over mortgage-backed securities July 3, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland has been told it could face a $13bn (£8.3bn) bill over its behaviour before the 2008 crisis, causing shares to fall 2.1 per cent in mid-morning trading. The 79 per cent taxpayer-owned bank is involved in a long running case in a Connecticut court over how it packaged mortgage bonds and [...]
Ukip leader Nigel Farage gets tough on Brexit: “David Cameron’s attempts at renegotiation are embarrassing” July 3, 2015 “By all accounts, Cameron got to say something at the renegotiation summit when the coffee was served. And as soon as he started to speak, Hollande went out for a pee, which shows you how seriously it was taken,” scoffs Ukip leader Nigel Farage. The renegotiation summit to which Farage refers took place last week [...]
US caught spying on senior German officials a week after espionage against France uncovered July 2, 2015 A list of German phone numbers that showed the US National Security Agency eavesdropping on senior German officials, beyond Angela Merkel, has been released by WikiLeaks. Angela Merkel’s chief of staff has summoned the US ambassador for a meeting to discuss the latest reports of alleged spying. Two years ago reports came out that the [...]
