The Chancellor’s corporation tax increase will hit UK competitiveness rating
The planned rise in corporation tax to 25% will give the UK one of the least competitive tax systems in the OECD In the 2020 edition of the International Tax Competitiveness Index, the UK ranked 22nd out of 36 OECD countries Raising the tax rate in 2023, just as the investment super-deduction ends, will make… View Article
The CPS welcomes Budget focus on free ports, full expensing, but warns of long-term growth challenge.
Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget statement, the Centre for Policy Studies, the leading centre-right think tank, welcomes Rishi Sunak’s plan for a business-led recovery, but urges him to do more to increase growth in the long term. Robert Colvile, CPS Director, said: ‘The combination of business rate reductions, investment incentives and other measures should help business… View Article
Stamp duty holiday help extended until September in today’s Budget
Lockdown measures and pent-up demand for houses has caused the time it takes to buy a property to double, according to mortgage broker Trussle. At the same time, a recent report by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) said the tax break had increased house sales to their highest level since before the 2007 financial… View Article
Rishi Sunak announces locations of eight new freeports across England in a bid to boost international trade
Rishi Sunak today unveiled the eight sites for the first freeports to be created in England. The Chancellor used the Budget to confirm the locations of the ‘special economic zones’ that were first announced in the Tories’ 2019 election manifesto. In 2016, Mr Sunak – before he was given a ministerial role – authored a… View Article
Stamp duty holiday boosts sales by almost 140%
The stamp duty holiday has helped bring housing transactions to the highest level since the financial crisis in 2007. It has also warded off a collapse of the housebuilding sector, with more new builds completed in Q3 2020 than in the same period in 2019. If the holiday ends in March as planned, we risk… View Article
‘Red Wall’ Tory MPs demand a ‘Northern Big Bang’ of investment and Government action to boost the region
Northern Tories are today demanding Boris Johnson trigger an economic ‘Big Bang’ as part of his plan to ‘level up the country’. Read more in the Daily Mail here.
The Times view on how to level up: Big Bang Up North
The Conservatives won the 2019 general election with a promise to “get Brexit done and level up the country”. Voters in those parts of the country which could do with being levelled up have shown considerable patience since then. Read more in The Times here.
Red Wall voters backed programme for radical change, now Tories must deliver it
A burst of private sector investment could create a Northern Big Bang, comparable to the 1980s Big Bang in the City of London, write Jake Berry MP and Nick King. Read more here.
PM must repay the North’s faith by unleashing a new ‘Northern Big Bang’, built around private investment
The North of England was once the powerhouse of the British economy, but today it has some of the least productive areas in Europe. Ministers need to match the radical spirit of those in the North who voted Brexit in 2016 and Tory in 2019, and repay their faith, by making it home to a… View Article
Carbon taxes would be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change
Responding to the Prime Minister’s reported plans to introduce carbon taxes, Eamonn Ives, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies, said: “It’s encouraging to see the Government express its interest in carbon taxes – which have been proven to be powerful tools in the fight against climate change, but are woefully underutilised. Ideally, any carbon tax… View Article
Universal Credit ‘tax on workers’ should be cut to help Brits get back to employment, says thinktank
Universal credit’s tax on workers should be cut to help struggling Brits back into employment, a new think tank report has said. The current system makes it “less worthwhile for claimants to take up employment”, a briefing paper by the Centre for Policy Studies said. Read more in The Sun here.
Bailing out Eurostar would be an insult to the north
News that Eurostar is about to go bust should surprise no one. Europe is closing its borders and passenger demand for rail travel with the Continent has collapsed. Read more in The Times here.
Treatment of teachers in Covid pandemic is storing up trouble for the future
The first lockdown left every parent I know with a newfound respect for teachers. But this time, they are being told to clap for them on a Thursday — and complain about them on a Friday. Read more in The Times here.
UK risks longer dependency on fossil fuels without nuclear
UK risks longer dependency on fossil fuels without nuclear. Read more on FT here.
UK must commit to new nuclear power or risk energy shortfall, report says
The government must commit to developing more nuclear capacity if the UK is to cope with the expected doubling of electricity demand by 2050, a new report has found. According to the Centre for Policy Studies, failure to invest in new nuclear power could see the UK forced to choose between hitting its net zero… View Article
