Budget airline easyJet is to close its base at East Midlands airport and cut services at Luton Airport by a fifth with a view to transferring them to profitable bases in continental Europe. Luton is one of easyJet’s biggest bases and operates 16 aircraft and carries almost 5 million passengers each year. Meanwhile, the low-cost [...]
The chairman of the Financial Services Authority is supporting a new tax on banks, aimed at curbing the bonus culture in the City. In an interview with Prospect magazine, Lord Turner attacked the industry and said some of the City’s activities had “swollen beyond its socially useful size” and was happy to consider taxing it. [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has embarked on a new campaign in order to get millions of pounds of unpaid tax from offshore bank accounts and has used the 2009 Budget to introduce the new “offshore disclosure opportunity” which will run until March 2010. It is an invitation to people with offshore accounts to disclose [...]
In today’s Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the country is suffering as the economy is in the midst of its worst year since World War II. In an attempt to drive the UK to recovery, the Chancellor unveiled a series of measures including tax rises and spending cuts. Those earning in excess [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling for Chancellor Alistair Darling not to increase the national minimum wage in Wednesday’s Budget. The request comes as the organisation is calling for measures to drive the private sector out of recession. Other measures including reducing corporation tax paid by small businesses, as well as introducing help [...]
There is bad news for Britain’s motorists today as, with immediate effect, the government has increased duty on fuel, adding 2.12p a litre for their petrol and diesel, which will increase the annual tax bill for the average family by £54, according to AA estimates. The AA has been actively campaigning against the increase and [...]
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics today have revealed that national debt could be pushed up by as much as £1.5 trillion, following the bailouts of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds TSB. Billions of pounds were injected into the two banks last autumn to prevent them from collapse. Furthermore, both Northern [...]
A government scheme designed to reduce the tax burden on British businesses has proved a success, helping over 60,000 firms deal with cash-flow problems. The Business Payment Support Service (BPSS), announced last November in the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report, provides a fast-track service for businesses who need more time to pay their tax bills. These businesses [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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