A cloudy start for many, with drizzle over the hills. Some bright or sunny spells developing at times through the day. The increasing risk of heavy showery rain in the south and west though the evening. Warm in the south.
Editorial 15.10.24
Many of Tuesday’s papers provide coverage of the latest hint from Chancellor Rachel Reeves that employers’ national insurance contributions could go up in the Budget.
The trial of Urfan Sharif makes several tabloid front pages, as he admitted to police that he had killed his ten-year-old daughter.
The Guardian says the refusal to rule out the move the “strongest hint yet” that an increase is planned. The paper says the chancellor’s plans to raise employer national insurance contributions have prompted accusations Labour is “about to break a manifesto promise”.
The FT says the chancellor, speaking at Monday’s investment summit, insisted business leaders understood the need to put the UK on a stable footing. It says that while increasing business taxes would help the public finances, it would also hit the bottom line for companies.
The i newspaper says some economists fear the measure could end up hitting workers too if employers hire fewer staff or reduce pay rises.
The Times’s headline reads: “Reeves tells business to prepare for higher taxes.” The paper says business leaders have warned the chancellor of anticipated “collateral damage” to the UK following the proposed rise in business taxes.
The Mail says the chancellor has broken the Labour manifesto pledge not to put up NI.
In other political news.
The Daily Telegraph reports on Wes Streeting’s claim that a new weight-loss jab will have a massive impact on obesity and getting unemployed people back into work.
The Metro leads on the trial of Urfan Sharif who admitted to killing his 10-year-old daughter Sara Sharif. “I beat Sara up too much,” he was quoted as saying in the call from Islamabad, Pakistan. Jurors were told Mr Sharif’s case was that her stepmother, Beinash Batool, was responsible for Sara’s death and he had made a false confession to protect her.
The Daily Express leads with quotes from Sharif who said he had “legally punished his daughter” and insisted he didn’t mean to kill her. The Mail also leads on the story detailing the many injuries the 10-year-old suffered in the lead-up to her death. Sharif had told the police that his daughter had been “naughty.”
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Ministers have hailed £63bn worth of investment into the UK that was unveiled at the government’s investment summit in the City today.
The figure, which includes a number of investment projects announced in recent weeks, covers a range of industries and sectors from clean energy, life sciences, data centres and aviation.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer began the high-powered summit with a speech to CEOs and investors in which he deployed the word ‘growth’ a total of 24 times.
“I am determined to do everything in my power to galvanise growth,” he vowed, as he reiterated his ambition for the UK to secure the highest sustained growth among G7 nations.
Closing the summit last night Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The decisions that lie ahead will not always be easy, but by making the right choices – to grow our economy, drive investment, we will create good jobs and new opportunities across every part of our country.”
UK inflation out this week is tipped to fall below the Bank of England’s two per cent target for the first time in more than three years, according to economists.
Official data from the Office for National Statistics, due to be released on Wednesday, is expected to show annual consumer price inflation fell to 1.9 per cent in September from 2.2 per cent in August.
That would be the first time inflation has fallen below target since April 2021, and will likely add to calls for UK ratesetters to lower borrowing costs at their next meeting in November.
Both the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve have loosened monetary policy more aggressively than the BoE after positive news on inflation, with the ECB expected to make its third rate cut in four months on Thursday.
Wage growth eased in line with expectations, new figures show, helping to pave the way for further interest rate cuts this year.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), pay growth excluding bonuses eased to 4.9 per cent in the three months to August, down from 5.1 per cent previously.
This was in line with expectations and the slowest rate of pay growth since June 2022.
Including bonuses, annual wage growth fell to 3.8 per cent, down from 4.0 per cent and slightly ahead of the 3.7 per cent expected by economists.
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