Lush and Kwik Fit warn tax rise will push up prices
Cosmetics company Lush and car repair chain Kwik Fit are among firms which have warned they will raise prices due to an increase in employers’ National Insurance (NI). Other firms have told the BBC they will reduce how much profit they make, freeze hiring or in some cases cut jobs to cover the higher costs. […]
Tariffs are yet another example of colossal, upending change
A week ago, Westminster was digesting the chancellor’s Spring Statement and all the talk was of a tightrope walk and precarious public finances. Next, let’s go back nearly two decades to the financial crisis and the historically poor growth and negligible average earnings growth that has afflicted the UK ever since. And then recall the calling card of the […]
Stocks, tariffs and pensions – your questions answered
Markets are reeling from US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, but the American leader is standing by his decisions, defending his policies and saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”. Experts answered some of the questions you sent us as the world tries to make sense of the turmoil and wonders how long it […]
Free childcare in Wales: What help is there for parents?
Parents in England are now entitled to 15 hours a week of free childcare for children from nine months old. The UK government hopes the scheme, which will cover all under-5s by 2025, will get more parents back to work. But the situation is not the same in Wales, because childcare is a devolved issue. Parents […]
How exposed is the UK to Trump’s tariff chaos?
Warnings of a global recession have been intensifying as the trade war heats up. As of Wednesday night, the main animus seems to be between the US and China who are flinging ever-increasing tariffs at each other. For most other nations, Donald Trump has paused implementing higher taxes on US imports for 90 days. It means that […]