Neither the Bank nor OBR can really say with any certainty what UK growth will be like in 2012, admits Governor
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Keep Calm and Carry on Cutting, says B of E’s King as he lauds falling wages and 25 per cent sterling depreciation
By Bernard Purcell /Wednesday, February 15th, 2012Teachers’ union NASUWT wants proper statutory valuation of Teachers’ Pension Scheme before government changes, and seeks judicial review
By Bernard Purcell /Wednesday, February 15th, 2012NASUWT says proper valuation will prove whether government claims about sustainability of scheme are true
Rising unemployment now at its highest since 1995, hits 22.2 per cent for 16-24 year olds
By Bernard Purcell /Wednesday, February 15th, 2012Numbers of women claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance tops 531,700
Embattled Sarkozy, lagging in polls, expected to end ‘phoney’ campaign and officially declare his presidential campaign
By Bernard Purcell /Tuesday, February 14th, 2012Socialist challenger Hollande sticks to pledges of taxes on rich and corporations as best means to tackle deficit, boost education and create jobs
Markets appear to shrug off credit rating agency’s country downgrades
By Bernard Purcell /Tuesday, February 14th, 2012Eurozone buoyed by successful sale of Italian government debt
UK pension funds claim new EU directive requiring cash buffers, not deficits will hurt employer solvency and cost jobs
By Bernard Purcell /Tuesday, February 14th, 2012Pension funds look for impact assessment of anticipated new directive as Coalition moots “raid” on £50,000 tax ceiling for private pensions to fund £10,000 tax free allowance for low-paid
Inflation down to 3.6 per cent as B of E sticks with 3.4 per cent prediction for first quarter of 2012 but says it will fall below 2 per cent by year end
By Bernard Purcell /Tuesday, February 14th, 2012B of E Governor Mervyn King will still have to write letter to chancellor explaining why inflation still ahead of its statutory 2 per cent target
TUC suggests US-style measuring of “real” joblessness totals in UK
By Bernard Purcell /Tuesday, February 14th, 2012As ONS sends latest jobless figures to Treasury ahead of publication the TUC warns that true joblessness in the UK is much higher than traditional measuring methods suggest
Scrapping tax relief on banking bonuses would net Treasury £1.7 billion – TUC
By Bernard Purcell /Friday, February 10th, 2012Ending corporation tax relief on bankers’ pay and bonuses worth more than £262,000 – 10 times the average wage – could net almost £2 billion for the Treasury, the TUC said this week. The specially-commissioned report said it could be worth £1.7 billion to the public purse. Corporation tax relief for pay and bonuses worth [...]
Return to right to buy has been exposed as ‘shoddy sham’ says UCATT leader
By Keith Richmond /Friday, February 10th, 2012One of the Conservative-led coalition’s flagship policies, to try and “reinvigorate” the controversial right to buy council house scheme introduced by Margaret Thatcher, has been bitterly attacked by the construction union UCATT. The union says it has unearthed “fundamental flaws” in the plan – problems it sets out in some detail in its submission to [...]