6:40 am, September 29, 2022
Chancellor’s mini-Budget to pile on debt interest, warns Tony Blair Institute
The mini-Budget unveiled by the chancellor last week will pile on higher debt interest but only increase the economy by 0.1 per cent each year until 2027, experts have warned.
New research by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and Oxford Economics claims the economy will only be 0.4 per cent larger by 2027 than it would have been without the tax cut package.
It comes after days of market turmoil as traders swallowed the impact of Kwasi Kwarteng’s growth plan, which included £45bn of tax cuts.
Bank’s action calms gilts market but signals panic and frustration, experts say
The Bank of England has been forced to apply ‘plasters on the financial wounds created by the government’ after announcing it was launching an emergency gilt-buying programme in efforts to calm financial markets, experts have said.
The temporary measure to buy government bonds – known as gilts – to bring down spiralling borrowing costs has been met with a mixed reaction in the City.
It effectively brings down the interest rate on public borrowing after it soared earlier this week, analysts said. But the move also signals a ‘topsy-turvy’ set of policies with the bond-buying spree counteracting efforts to tame inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes, according to investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.
£50m Defence Cyber Academy ‘will counter global cyber security threats’
A new £50m Defence Cyber Academy will help the UK and its allies counter global cyber security threats, defence secretary Ben Wallace has said.
The announcement came as UK and US defence chiefs attended the Atlantic Future Forum 2022 summit this week on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, anchored in New York.
The Ministry of Defence said the launch of the academy, based in Shrivenham, comes after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport revealed that cyber attacks, including ‘espionage activity and ransomware infiltration across government’, had cost some £100m over the past year.
Firms urged to do more to help in cost-of-living crisis
Which? is calling on businesses to do more to help consumers as an ‘alarming’ number of households struggle with the financial and emotional impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
The watchdog said supermarkets, telecoms and energy firms ‘can and should do more to help’ after a survey of some 2,000 people suggested 65 per cent of households had resorted to measures such as cutting back on essentials, selling items or dipping into savings to pay their bills.
This is the highest level the consumer group champion has recorded in the past decade and equates to an estimated 18.2 million households.
Almost half of people would support road pricing – survey
Nearly half of people support replacing fuel duty and vehicle excise duty with a pay-as-you-drive scheme, a new survey has suggested.
The poll of more than 3,000 UK adults for pressure group Campaign for Better Transport indicated that 49 per cent of people are in favour of charging drivers based on how they use vehicles.
Sixty per cent of respondents said they believe vehicle taxation needs reforming.
Households urged to take energy meter readings ahead of October 1 price rise
Households have been urged to submit their energy meter readings ahead of prices rising from October 1.
This will prevent firms from estimating usage and charging for energy used before October 1 but at the higher rate, said industry body Energy UK.
The average household energy bill will rise from £1,971 to a frozen £2,500 under the energy price guarantee announced by Liz Truss earlier this month – an increase of 27 per cent from the previous price cap.
Harry Dunn’s alleged killer set for UK court appearance
The family of Harry Dunn’s three-year wait for criminal proceedings is finally due to end today as the case of their son’s alleged killer is set to be heard at a UK court for the first time.
US citizen Anne Sacoolas is accused of causing the 19-year-old motorcyclist’s death by dangerous driving following a collision outside a military base in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
The 45-year-old is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via video link from the US. Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government following the collision outside RAF Croughton and was able to leave the UK 19 days after the incident.
BMW XM arrives as first ‘M’ car to use an electrified powertrain
BMW has unveiled the new XM as its new performance SUV flagship, using a new plug-in hybrid setup that makes it the first BMW ‘M’ model to feature electrification.
Previewed last year with the Concept XM and unveiled in the year BMW marks 50 years of its ‘M’ models, this SUV is a bespoke model that will purely be offered as an ‘M’ car rather than a tuned version of an existing car.
The star of the show is its new ‘M Hybrid V8’ setup, which pairs an ‘extensively updated’ 4.4-litre turbocharged V8 petrol engine with a 194bhp electric motor, with the combination developing 645bhp and 800Nm of torque. That makes it the most powerful BMW to date, giving a 0-60mph time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of up to 168mph when the optional M Driver’s Package is specified.
Wednesday’s stories you might have missed on Car Dealer
- Arnold Clark sees pre-tax profit soar to £263m as revenue tops £4bn
- Three days left to vote! Make sure you get your nominations in for the 2022 Car Dealer Used Car Awards!
- Sytner Group sees pre-tax profit soar to more than £178m as impact of pandemic eases
- Delight at Snows after being ranked top UK dealership chain for customer experience two years in a row
- Exclusive: Demand for used cars remains strong despite cost-of-living concerns – Auto Trader
- JCT600 reveals best trading result as it posts pre-tax profit of £45m
Market movements
The FTSE closed up 20.80 points yesterday to finish on 7,005.39. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 was up 11.19 points, ending on 5,765.01, the Dax rose by 43.60 points to 12,183.28, and the Dow Jones gained 548.75 points, ending on 29,683.74.
Weather outlook
Thursday will see variable cloud and sunny spells, with some showers mainly in northern and central England and Scotland, according to BBC Weather. It will turn drier through the afternoon and evening.
Heavy rain will move across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England tomorrow morning, spreading south-eastwards into Wales and the rest of England during the afternoon. It will also be a windy day.
