The Government risks a £30bn-plus yearly black hole in its tax policy, if it fails to find a meaningful alternative to fuel duty during the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), warned environmental think tank Green Alliance.
Category: Freelancer Opinion & Insights
Opinion and thought leadership from freelancers, small business experts and solo entrepreneurs shaping the UK’s independent economy.
Love me do: How to fall in love with your local high street
“In 20 years’ time, as a society, do we want to look back and wish that we had saved our high-streets and not missed our window of opportunity?”
Your persona achieves acceleration and lift off when you attach it to a Cause-related ‘Campaign’ – Jamie Oliver Is A Master At This
Throwing different-sized content blades from a variety of release points is all well and good for day-to-day image maintenance, but even the best one-day story doesn’t elevate your profile to enough height with enough longevity unless it’s accompanied with a series of full-scale campaigns that are fully wrapped around it.
The future of collaborative technologies
Long before the pandemic struck, many companies were already looking to digital transformation as a means of saving costs and driving efficiencies.
IR35 u-turn slammed by business trade body
Responding to the announcement that the repeal of Off Payroll regulations will now be scrapped, Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has expressed anger from the trade association over the continued instability and lack of confidence:
![Jeremy Hunt hit the TV and radio studios yesterday like a whirlwind. Hours into his new job as chancellor, his task was to calm the financial markets, which had so brutally moved against his predecessor and triggered surging borrowing costs for homeowners. But has he done enough? Can his words calm turbulent gilt yields when trading opens on Monday morning? The risk is that markets will be hugely volatile on what will be the first time in two weeks that the Bank of England is not standing behind gilts, or government bonds, ready to buy them to ease pressure on pension funds. IN YOUR INBOX Business briefing In-depth analysis and comment on the latest financial and economic news from our award-winning Business teams. Sign up now Hunt’s media appearances were seen as an attempt to address the problems Kwarteng had created with the unfunded tax cuts in his mini budget. Acknowledging that mortgage rates have already rocketed — to as high as 7 per cent, according to some estimates — Hunt pledged credible tax and spending policies. “No chancellor can control the markets or should ever seek to do so. But the thing that is within your power is to demonstrate certainty in public finances,” he told the BBC. ADVERTISEMENT Rupert Harrison, an adviser to George Osborne when he was chancellor and now at BlackRock, said Hunt’s comments were a “turning point”. “Markets now have someone in the Treasury who gets it and who they can trust,” he said. There has been an unprecedented sell-off of gilts in the past two weeks amid fears that the tax cuts proposed by Kwarteng would fuel inflation and force the Bank of England to raise interest rates. Markets are pricing in a rise of a full percentage point from the Bank next month to take the base rate to 3.25 per cent. Even after Kwarteng’s replacement by Hunt on Friday afternoon, bond markets kept selling. Some analysts have suggested they will keep attacking until Truss resigns. Economist Julian Jessop, who has been advising the Truss camp, said Hunt’s pledge of fiscal discipline meant “Trussonomics” had been junked. SPONSORED “The whole point about Trussonomics was growing the economy ... not about a combination of tax cuts and big cuts in spending [the traditional approach]”. Jessop has previously said that Kwarteng’s mini budget went too far in announcing tax cuts, as this had spooked the markets. Hunt attempted to show yesterday that he would start work on plans to balance the books ahead of the budget planned for October 31. Unlike with the mini budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility will publish economic forecasts to accompany the government’s fiscal plans. He acknowledged to the BBC that two mistakes had been made by Kwarteng: abolishing the 45 per cent top rate of income tax; and the decision to “fly blind” without the OBR forecasts. On Friday, Truss also ditched plans to reverse a rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent. That will raise £18 billion. ADVERTISEMENT Hunt also warned about “difficult decisions” on spending and taxes. “We’re going to ask all government departments to find efficiencies,” he said. “But we’re also going to have pressure on the tax side — taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped, and some taxes will have to go up.” George Buckley, economist at Nomura, said more detail was still needed. The reversal of the corporation tax move, he argued , “goes only a portion of the way”. Business leaders, as well as the financial markets, were watching Hunt’s performances closely. Dominic Blakemore, chief executive of FTSE 100 catering giant Compass, said the events of the past few days had been “pretty shocking”. “Throughout, we’ve needed robust, fully costed plans, because markets just can’t operate without that and in a vacuum,” he explained. Phil Urban, chief executive of FTSE 250 pub chain Mitchells & Butlers, called the situation “ shambolic”. “Business is probably realising that it can’t rely on government or politics to sort things out. So we’re just focusing on what is in our gift to do,” said Urban. One FTSE 100 boss, who did not want to be identified, resorted to expletives to describe his frustration. Describing Truss and Kwarteng as “goons”, he added: “Every single household is spending most of their time trying to balance their books, and our f***ing prime minister and chancellor don’t have to? Are you f***ing taking the piss?” His view was that Truss also had to go, to restore credibility. And that may be what the markets start to demand when trading resumes on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Jessop said: “I don’t think Hunt did anything that would upset the markets or surprise them. But markets don’t like uncertainty. Uncertainty about economic policy — that’s maybe eased a little bit. But now we’ve got an increase in political uncertainty as we can’t be sure who the prime minister is going to be next weekend.”](https://notltd.co.uk/wp-content/smush-webp/2022/10/Jeremy-Hunt-230x129.jpg.webp)
Has Hunt done enough to stave off another Black Monday after an absolutely crazy political week?
Jeremy Hunt hit the TV and radio studios yesterday like a whirlwind. Hours into his new job as chancellor, his task was to calm the financial markets,
The pound in crisis: firefighting or strategic planning?
UK citizens awoke to dramatic news on this morning as headlines declared that the pound had slumped to an all-time low against the dollar.
Mini Budget: UK needs inclusive economic growth, not isolated hot spots
Professor John Bryson, Chair in Enterprise and Economic Geography at the University of Birmingham offered his opinion about the economic measured announced today by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Business reaction of mini-budget slams ‘irresponsible’ Kwarteng
UK SME’s have been very dismissive of Kwasi Kwarteng emergency mini budget, with some branding it as “Trussmoronics not Trussonomics”.
Its time to inject yourself into the thick vein of the ever coursing whitewater rapid ride of the media
In your quest for media traction you’ve now worked out your identity and inherent personality through your God-given face, you’ve handpicked, culled and pruned your associates, you’ve established and weighted the hierarchy of your ‘doing selves’, and expertly blended a potpourri of gestures, intonations and visual queues into a unique ‘cartoon-self’.
Seven days in office: What has PM Truss achieved for businesses?
Liz Truss was sworn into Premiership on the 5th September and it has undoubtedly, been one of the busiest first few days of any prime minister’s career.
Time to pause and reflect upon greatest personal brand of them all, Her Majesty The Queen
This week we must pause and reflect upon the death of the greatest personal brand of them all, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
A Letter from a venture capital firm to our new Prime Minister
Andrew Aldridge, Partner at Deepbridge Capital, has written an open letter to new Prime Minister Liz Truss setting out what he feels are her key priorities for the UK.
New Prime Minister Truss needs to reform more than IR35 to bolster UK’s economy
Following the announcement that Liz Truss has won the Conservative leadership race, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has highlighted the key priorities that need to be top of the new Prime Minister’s agenda.
UK investors brace for recession before the end of the year
UK investors are bracing for a recession before the end of the year, new research has found.
