Economics

An IMF report has concluded that the UK’s public finances are some of the worst on the planet. Since the banking crash of 2008 nearly £1tn has been slashed from the public sector, which is 50% of GDP. Bailing out the banking sector and public sector pension liabilities hugely contributed to the poor state of the UK’s public finances. Of 31 countries only Portugal was in a weaker position. The Gambia, Uganda and Kenya rank above the UK. Norway ranked...

Danske Bank Chief Executive Thomas Borgen has quit after he was embroiled in a huge money-laundering scam. An investigation into the bank’s dealings discovered a potential £177bn fiddle through its Estonian operation,between 2007 and 2015. The Danish bank said many of those payments were suspicious. Mr Borgen said: "Even though the investigation conducted by the external law firm concludes that I have lived up to my legal obligations, I believe that it is best for all parties that I resign."...

By Vanessa Ganguin, founder of London immigration firm Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law EU citizens should not be given preferential access when applying for UK visas, according to the long-awaited Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report on the future of EEA migration. The EEA migration in the UK: Final report was commissioned by the former Home Secretary Amber Rudd in July 2017. Its remit was to provide evidence to inform the creation of a new migration system for the UK following Brexit, which will...

The IMF had a stark warning to the UK ahead of the final Brexit negotiations. They said that a no-deal Brexit would inflict “substantial costs” to the UK economy. The IMF expects Britain's economy to grow by 1.5% in both 2018 and 2019 if a broad Brexit agreement is struck. However, any Brexit would “entail costs,” but a no deal scenario would be a “significantly worse outcome.” Christine Lagarde, the IMF's managing director, told a news conference in London: "Those...

A shocking new study has discovered that over 14 million people, 4.5 million of them children, and living in poverty. The investigation also discovered that 12% of the total UK population is in “persistent” poverty, having spent all or most of the last four years below the breadline. The statistics, by Social Metrics Commission, have been gathered from a new measure to calculate social disadvantage. The commission includes experts from academia, and from organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,...

Data obtained by the LGC (Local Government Chronicle) has found that a staggering £4bn has been spent since 2010, reports The Local Government Chronicle. This shocking figure shows how much local government has been damaged by austerity, and at such a high cost to tax payers. The LGC data, which covers 2010-11 to 2017-18, came from Freedom of Information requests. Shockingly David Paine, a LGC journalist , who carried out the research, said the figures did not reflect large pay-offs...

Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’ Grady today called for working weeks to be cut to four days as technological advances increase efficiency. Rather than a threat to their jobs, technology should be a way to let British workers have a better work life balance and spend more time with their families, the TUC boss believes. Addressing the TUC congress this week O’Grady warned that for too long now the multinationals that have benefitted the most from new technology...

While high income households gain financially by switching to metering, a study suggests that less well off families are, on average, around £10 worse off

Retells story of how these unique creatures colonised the Island