25. Weekly Newsletter
Reform party makes tax cuts promise
The Reform party, led by Nigel Farage, is now ahead of the Conservatives in the polls and lead the opposition to Labour who are currently favoured. YouGov poll showed the Reform party had jumped to 19% whilst the Conservatives are at 18% and Labour at 37%. The Reform Party announced this week that it had “radical” plans to significantly push forward the minimum threshold for income tax from £12.570 to £20,000 which would result in an almost £90 billion tax cut (personal and business). Farage described the move as “radical” and “fresh” thinking which differs to the Conservatives and Labour who he has criticised for being too similar this campaign.
The plans for tax cuts by the Reform party is funded by cutting budgets in things like net zero schemes. Farage has said in his manifesto that his campaign is not an attempt to govern the country but to build a stronghold in parliament as he doesn’t believe any party can overcome Labour who are winning in the polls as the election looms.
Newspapers
Some of the British headlines from the past week are:
- Financial Times- ‘London drags down UK productivity’
- Financial Times- ‘Labour to forge closer EU ties on carbon tax’
- Financial Times- ‘Wes Streeting urges doctors to call off strikes ahead of UK election’
- Financial Times- ‘Consultants to lose £3bn of UK government work under plan to halve advisory spend’
- Financial Times- ‘Labour’s donations in first week of campaign nearly double Tories’
- The Times- ‘Sunak warns of generation under Labour as Farage launches Reform manifesto’
- Sunday Telegraph- ‘Labour risks higher mortgage bills and worse unemployment, says HSBC’
UK public inflation expectations fall
The public expectations of inflation have hit the lowest point they have been in nearly three years as they returned to levels prior to the cost-of-living crisis where prices surged. Data published by the Bank of England this week showed that on average, each person forecasts the rate of price growth to be 2.8% compared to February where it was at 3%. This is positive news for the BoE’s Monetary policy committee who announce their input on interest rates this week. This expectation was a stark contrast to the Summer of 2022 when inflation rate expectations hit highs of 4.9%. This fall in expectation is due to the easing of costs on essentials like energy and food.
