LONDON—British public borrowing fell by almost half in the first six months of the current financial year from a post-World War Two high a year earlier, when the economy faced the full force of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thursday’s official data will be welcome news for finance minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to present fresh…
UK Chancellor Not Ruling out Tax Hike Amid Warning of Hitting ‘The Limit’
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak refrained from ruling out future tax rises on Monday as ministers face pressure from their own party to put a lid on taxes. After Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to rule out tax rises in the upcoming budget last week, senior Conservative Party members have warned the government that…
Britain’s Sunak Accepts Call for Financial Reforms After Greensill Collapse
British finance minister Rishi Sunak has ordered two immediate reviews of the country’s financial regulation related to the collapse of supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital. In a letter to a parliamentary committee that issued a report in July related to Greensill’s collapse, released on Friday by the same committee, Sunak said he had accepted…
UK Employee Numbers Bounce Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Employee numbers in Britain have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels as the economic recovery continues, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Tuesday. Employment was hit hard during the pandemic, but has shown signs of recovery since the end of 2020. The number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 241,000 to 29.1…
Business Tax Increases Must End: UK Industry Group
A leading British industry group has urged the government to reward companies that continue investing instead of raising business taxes further. Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said on Monday that UK businesses are willing to pay their fair share to help the country recover from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)…
Minister Admits Just 25 Percent of Department’s Civil Servants Are Back in Office
Only about 25 percent of staff in one government department are currently in the office on any one day, a minister has said, despite the Chancellor advocating the benefits of young people returning to the workplace. Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, gave the estimate for the Department for Education when asked on Times…
UK Reports Highest February Borrowing Since Records Began
The UK government is estimated to have borrowed £19.1 billion ($26.6 billion) last month, the highest for February since monthly records began in 1993. The borrowing figure is £17.6 billion ($24.5 billion), more than that of February 2020, according to new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday. In February 2021,…
UK Local Authorities Face ‘Significant Funding Gaps’ Due to Pandemic: Watchdog
The CCP virus pandemic has caused “significant funding gaps” in England’s local authorities, whose financial outlook has become “concerning,” the UK government’s spending watchdog said on Wednesday. During the pandemic, local authorities have reported combined cost pressures and income losses of £9.7 billion ($13.5 billion), equal to 17.6 percent of their total spend in the…
UK Tax Burden Set to Be Highest Since 1960s Due to Pandemic
Britain’s tax burden will rise to its highest level for over 50 years after the chancellor announced significant tax hikes to deal with the consequences of the pandemic. Delivering the annual budget in the House of Commons on March 3, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said that corporation tax will be raised to…
UK Raises Corporation Tax After Public Spending Soars During Pandemic
Britain’s Conservative government said on Wednesday it will raise taxes for businesses in a bid to improve public finances, which have been hit hard during the CCP virus pandemic. Delivering the annual budget in the House of Commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced that corporation tax will be raised from 19 percent to…
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