Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, says that the economic data released today show that Burnham is “doing the right thing by pledging action on the cost of living”.
Working people are up against it with stagnant real pay, over a million people stuck on insecure zero-hour contracts, and a million young people not in employment, education, or training.
Cutting VAT on energy bills will provide some welcome relief. But with Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran continuing to drive up bills, the government will need to go further. The new prime minister could raise up to £60bn over four years by hiking taxes on banks – and use it to bring down bills further for households across the country.
That gives the MPC good cover to keep rates unchanged next week as it waits to see the impact of the latest escalation in fighting in Iran on inflation.
Meanwhile, stagnant, or even negative, real wage growth in the second half of this year will intensify the pressure on Burnham and Healey to come up with a package to support the cost of living. However, doing anything substantial without breaching either the fiscal rules or the manifesto commitments looks increasingly difficult, given the deterioration in headroom.
Continue reading…Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsPaul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, says that the economic data released today show that Burnham is “doing the right thing by pledging action on the cost of living”.Working people are up against it with stagnant real pay, over a million people stuck on insecure zero-hour contracts, and a million young people not in employment, education, or training.Cutting VAT on energy bills will provide some welcome relief. But with Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran continuing to drive up bills, the government will need to go further. The new prime minister could raise up to £60bn over four years by hiking taxes on banks – and use it to bring down bills further for households across the country.That gives the MPC good cover to keep rates unchanged next week as it waits to see the impact of the latest escalation in fighting in Iran on inflation.Meanwhile, stagnant, or even negative, real wage growth in the second half of this year will intensify the pressure on Burnham and Healey to come up with a package to support the cost of living. However, doing anything substantial without breaching either the fiscal rules or the manifesto commitments looks increasingly difficult, given the deterioration in headroom. Continue reading…