Politics & Economics News

Politics & Economics News

Retail sales rise but consumers fear cuts

7 September, 2010

Telegraph: The back-to-school season and summer discounting helped to drive a 2.8pc rise in total retail sales in August compared with a year earlier, but the British Retail Consortium said impending austerity measures...

Four in 10 Lib Dem voters would not vote for party again, says poll

7 September, 2010

Independent: The Liberal Democrats have lost the support of almost four in 10 of the people who backed the party in May, according to an opinion poll for The Independent.

Flat hiring rate casts doubt on recovery

7 September, 2010

FT.com: Employers expect a “static” rate of recruitment for the remainder of this year, according to new research, underlining concerns about the momentum of economic recovery.

No defence left against double-dip recession, says Nouriel Roubini

6 September, 2010

Telegraph: The United States, Japan and large parts of Europe have exhausted their policy arsenal, leaving them defenceless against a double-dip recession as recovery slows to ‘stall speed’.

Pre-Budget report to be ditched

6 September, 2010

FT.Com: George Osborne will scrap the pre-Budget report this year in a break with Gordon Brown’s era and a signal of a return to more normal economic policymaking.

RBS 'horror story' as UK job cuts top 20,000

3 September, 2010

Telegraph: The job cuts at Royal Bank of Scotland are turning into a "horror story", according to union Unite, as the total number of staff made redundant in the UK by the bank since its partial nationalisation topped 20,000.

UK house prices fall, construction growth cools

3 September, 2010

Reuters: British house prices fell much faster than expected last month and construction activity slowed, industry surveys showed on Thursday, reinforcing concerns that economic growth will fall off sharply.

Blair reveals Gordon Brown's pension reform threats

2 September, 2010

Money Marketing: Gordon Brown attempted to derail Lord Turner’s pension reforms by threatening to bring down Tony Blair over the loans for peerages scandal, according to Blair’s memoir.

Rise in interest rates would be a 'disaster' for UK economy, warns Peter Hargreaves

2 September, 2010

Telegraph: A rise in interest rates could cause many UK homeowners to "throw away the keys" to their houses, according to Peter Hargreaves, the co-founder of financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown.

Positive summer for business and Government, but tough days lie ahead

1 September, 2010

Telegraph: In the 100 days since the Coalition launched its manifesto, we have seen a series of seismic changes, with the potential for far-reaching significance in the way financial firms operate.

Consumer confidence improves in August

31 August, 2010

Reuters: British consumer confidence unexpectedly improved in August for the first time since February thanks to a more positive view on the economic outlook, a survey showed on Tuesday.

Government set for £30 billion bank bonus

31 August, 2010

ITN: The Government is set to reap almost £30 billion from its holdings in British banks which it bailed out at the time of the financial crisis, according to financial experts.

Golden goodbyes: Labour ministers' £5million pension pots revealed

31 August, 2010

Daily Mail: Labour ministers walked away from their election defeat with pension pots topping £5million, it emerged at the weekend.

Q2 GDP growth unexpectedly revised up to nine-year high

27 August, 2010

Reuters: Britain's economy grew faster than originally thought in the second quarter of the year, with growth hitting a nine-year high, official data showed on Friday, but analysts doubt the pace of recovery can...

Corporate UK gives economy shot in arm

27 August, 2010

Telegraph: Corporate Britain delivered the economy a welcome boost on Thursday with a slew of strong results that contradict the gloomy outlook and offer some hope for a sustained recovery.

Budget hits families and pensioners twice as hard

25 August, 2010

Telegraph: Pensioners and families with children will be the biggest victims of George Osborne’s emergency Budget, according to an analysis published today.

Small firms report weak trading conditions

25 August, 2010

BBC News: As the UK economy continues to slowly recover, trading remains mixed for the 10 small firms that the BBC News website has followed over the past two years.

Hedge fund boss gave Tories £500,000 during election

24 August, 2010

Guardian: Jon Wood, nicknamed Keyser Soze in the City, was second most generous Tory donor behind JCB Research.

Bank's Weale says Britain faces recession risk

24 August, 2010

Reuters: Britain faces the risk of sliding into recession and the central bank's growth forecast for this year and next may be too optimistic, a Bank of England policymaker was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Public sector suppliers go bust as spending cuts bite

23 August, 2010

Guardian: Care home operators have been particularly badly hit as local authorities tighten their budgets.

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