Author: News Desk

Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt to create 12 new low-tax ‘investment zones’ across UK The Independent says Jeremy Hunt is set to announce a dozen new low-tax “investment zones” across Britain at this week’s Budget in a bid to boost growth and help “level up” areas outside of London. The chancellor is expected to reveal 12 zones clustered around universities – radically scaling back a scheme introduced by the former prime minister Liz Truss which saw hundreds of councils bid against each other. The Treasury said each zone would get £80m of support over five years – including generous tax incentives…

Seven Spring Budget 2023 predictions from fuel duty to price of booze and cigarettes – and what it means for you The Sun says JEREMY Hunt will finally reveal the government’s Spring Budget TOMORROW. At 12.30pm in the Commons chamber, the Chancellor will announce how much the price of booze and cigarettes will change. And he’ll let Brits know of any new benefits, bill support packages and tax hikes. The Treasury keeps a tight lid on policies included in the highly-anticipated budget. Revealing too many details in advance can move markets. And changes can still be made right up until…

Social media can be a dark place.

We don’t know how to feel about it.

Jeremy Hunt to offer £63m budget lifeline to England’s swimming pools The Guardian says England’s struggling swimming pools are to be offered a lifeline in the budget with the creation of a £63m fund to ease cost pressures. On Wednesday, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will outline that the new money will be made available for one year and managed by Sport England. It will allow local authorities to apply for funding for leisure centres with pools that face immediate cost pressures including operational and maintenance expenses and energy bills. The move comes shortly after the Guardian revealed England had lost…

Today’s news summary – Paper Talk Tuesday’s front pages continue their coverage of the Gary Linekar row, following the announcement that the sports legend will be allowed back on air without further reprimand following his tweets over the government’s controversial migrant plans. Many of today’s newspapers feature pictures from Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony, and some of the tabloids lead with news former pop star and convicted paedophile Gary Glitter has been taken back to jail. The UK, US and Australia security pact and the collapse of the US bank – Silicon Valley Bank are also hot topics for the papers. …

Budget to boost lifetime allowance for pension savings In an effort to encourage people to continue working, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt plans to use his Budget to increase the lifetime allowance for pension savings to up to £1.8m. This would address government concerns that higher wage earners, such as doctors and consultants, retire earlier. The annual cap on tax-free pension contributions may also be raised from £40,000 to £60,000, which is expected to benefit millions of workers. Currently, any excess over the lifetime allowance of £1.07m is subject to a tax charge. The allowance has been seen as an issue in…

She did not mince her words.

Sorry, what?

UK job vacancies fall for eighth time in a row Companies in the UK blamed economic pressures for holding back on hiring new staff, as job vacancies fell for the eighth consecutive time. The official figures were released a day before Wednesday’s Budget, where the Chancellor is expected to outline plans to encourage people back to work. Between December and February, the number of job vacancies fell by 51,000 compared to the previous three months. However, despite the decline, there are still 1.1 million job vacancies, 328,000 more than in the January to March 2020 period before the pandemic. The…