[ad_1] Rishi Sunak’s March budget will be a fresh Covid rescue package that will defer plans for significant tax increases as the chancellor throws his weight behind a cautious approach to reopening the economy, government sources have confirmed. Boris Johnson signalled on Wednesday that the government would take a slow path towards reopening hospitality, which…
[ad_1] The Labour leadership contest has been largely bereft of debate about the party’s future policy platform. Recognising the shift to the left during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the main contenders have mostly promised to adopt the major planks of his programme, especially in economic policy. In the wake of a severe defeat, it is comforting…
[ad_1] Claim John McDonnell claims a Labour government would save families more than £6,700 a year. Background In a speech in Birmingham on Wednesday, the shadow chancellor will claim most households have been hit by the rising cost of living under the Tories. He will say households would save about £6,700 a year on their…
[ad_1] We knew that Labour’s manifesto would be nationalisation-heavy but there were still late surprises. Openreach, BT’s broadband division, was added to the list in the final stages. And, more quietly, the big six household suppliers of gas and electricity were included within reforms for the energy sector; previously only the grid and the networks,…
[ad_1] There were two important statements from the CBI on Thursday. One, as you’d expect, was a view on the new UK-EU withdrawal agreement. In short, the employer’s body welcomes anything that lessens the chances of a damaging no-deal Brexit but it warned that “big questions remain about the feasibility of negotiating a new trade…
[ad_1] The Confederation of British Industry is barking up the wrong tree when it howls about the “eye-watering” cost of Labour’s nationalisation plans, which it puts at almost £200bn. Of all the arguments against nationalisation – and there are many strong ones – the claimed upfront cost is the weakest. The CBI skips over the…
[ad_1] Councils will be expected to take rubbish collection, cleaning and school dinner provision back in-house under plans to reverse four decades of outsourcing to be announced by the Labour party today . In the biggest shake-up of local government since the Margaret Thatcher-inspired reforms of the 1980s, a future Jeremy Corbyn-led government would legislate…