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Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday claimed he had proved the “declinists” wrong in delivering “a budget for growth” — the magic ingredient to fix public services, repair the social safety net and boost living standards. From tax breaks for business to free childcare, welfare reforms and a big pensions giveaway, he reeled out measures intended to

Jeremy Hunt is a lucky politician. The failure of his predecessor made him chancellor of the exchequer. That and the energy crisis forced him to take tough action last November. Since then, falling gas prices have relieved pressure on the economy and public finances. But he has also used his new room for manoeuvre shrewdly.

Jeremy Hunt prepared for his first Budget last weekend with a 19-mile run, part of his training for a forthcoming marathon. Sadly for the UK chancellor, his political strategy is by necessity more of a sprint. With a general election expected in 2024, Hunt has precious little time to turn around a sluggish economy and

Some readers may have been given the impression recently that the Conservative party is a quasi-religious cult, dedicated to the reverence of its chosen people — or as they are known in the party, “pensioners”. But wait, what was this? A makeover? Wednesday’s Budget bravely acknowledged that not everyone in Britain remembers the death of

We know Rishi Sunak likes innovation. The Silicon Valley premier created a new department for science, innovation and technology as part of the modest ambition of making the UK “the most innovative economy in the world”.  In his Mais lecture last year — which showed the thinking behind the welcome tax breaks for business investment

British motorists will save £100 on average after the government retained a 5p per litre discount on fuel duty for a further year, prompting warnings from carmakers and public transport campaigners that the move would slow the uptake of electric vehicles. The measure, which was introduced last year to help offset the soaring cost of

British businesses will be offered £27bn in tax relief for the next three years to boost company investment as the government seeks to jump-start economic growth. In his Budget, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, set out plans to make the UK “the best place in Europe for companies to locate, invest and grow” with incentives to

Jeremy Hunt delivered a tax bonanza to 2mn of the highest-earning pension savers in an attempt to stem the wave of early retirement, a core tenet of the chancellor’s “back to work” Budget.  The big surprise in Hunt’s speech was scrapping from April the lifetime allowance of £1.073mn on pension pots, which has limited the

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday presented a long list of measures to boost UK economic growth, but the medium-term outlook remained relatively unchanged. Hunt said his was a Budget for “long-term, sustainable, healthy growth that pays for our NHS and schools, finds jobs for young people, and provides a safety net for older people”. It

The problematic fact at the heart of UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s “Budget for growth” is that the latest data shows Britain’s economy is still extremely sluggish. The average annual growth rate from the eve of the coronavirus pandemic was forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal watchdog at only 1 per cent. That expectation

Mayors of England’s two biggest city regions outside London have been granted greater financial flexibility in the Budget as well as new powers in sectors including transport, housing and skills. The deals follow months of negotiations between the central government and the mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, following a commitment in last

Extra pension tax breaks for higher earners, more free childcare for working parents and all-around help with energy bills top the list of the chancellor’s measures for consumers, householders and savers. Pensions allowances for higher earners will rise in an effort to discourage early retirement. The £40,000 cap on tax-free annual pension contributions — frozen

Jeremy Hunt has claimed Britain will become the best place to invest of any advanced economy after the chancellor put £9bn of business tax breaks at the heart of his “Budget for growth”. His first Budget also contained two big measures intended to keep people in work: a £5bn extension of free childcare in England

The UK government will extend its energy price cap for households by an additional three months as it seeks to shield consumers during the cost of living crisis. The Energy Price Guarantee, which has capped typical annual energy bills at £2,500 this winter, will continue from April to June, saving a typical household £160 during

Credit Suisse shares tumbled more than 20 per cent to an all-time low on Wednesday following comments from its largest shareholder that it would not provide the bank with any more capital. Trading in Credit Suisse shares was halted after they sank as low as SFr1.73. The declines came after the chair of the Saudi

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has raised the spectre of a “slow rolling crisis” in the US financial system following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, “with more seizures and shutdowns coming”. In his closely watched letter to investors and chief executives, the founder of the $8.6tn money manager said SVB’s collapse was an example

HSBC’s eleventh-hour decision to offer £1 for Silicon Valley Bank UK was driven as much by its inability to fully analyse 30 per cent of the target’s loan book as the opportunity to win a host of start-up clients. The bank’s executives had already determined that SVB UK and its customers were a good strategic fit,

Budget October 27 2021 Prime minister: Boris Johnson; Chancellor: Rishi Sunak. Rishi Sunak delivered a “tax, spend and save” Budget, his third and final as UK chancellor. He raised taxes to their highest level in 70 years on the back of forecasts that gave him a £35bn annual windfall and promised to pump more money

Technology start-ups are scrambling to deal with tighter regulation and the influence of larger banks that are set to replace the informal financial relationships and close personal connections that have characterised Silicon Valley Bank’s dealings with the sector. Young tech companies, which account for a large part of SVB’s deposits, were making plans to take

The writer is a science commentator The assertion that the UK is world-beating at science and technology is often repeated but rarely questioned. The government boasts of being a “global leader”; UK Research and Innovation, the national funding agency, talks of the “UK’s global leadership in transformative technologies”. The reality may be less rosy, according

Since Bob Iger’s second term as Disney chief executive started in November, some of America’s most prominent media executives have offered him advice on how to turn the world’s largest entertainment group round. One topic has dominated the conversations: what to do with Hulu, the popular but complicated streaming service in which Disney owns a