Brexit boris johnson

Rishi Sunak today presented yet another £65billion of Covid support in his annual Budget. The Chancellor extended most schemes until September and gave businesses another shot in the arm as they wait for a vaccine. But all that help comes at a cost, and we're not just talking about a hike in Corporation Tax. A stealth tax hike on working Brits will raise £8bn a year and schemes could run out in September while 2million are still furloughed. The Budget speech is always a triumphant affair, burying the awkward details to a few lines or none at all. To get a real feel for what's going on, you must read the hundreds of pages of documents slipped out when the Chancellor sits down. We're still trawling through the mammoth pile of Budget documents, including analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog (OBR). But here are the biggest surprises in the small print that have leaped out at us so far. 1. NHS spending overall looks set to be cut Rishi Sunak said … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: 11 surprises hidden in the small print from ‘NHS cut’ to Brexit

Uncertainty around the future of the Northern Ireland protocol has seen the construction of purpose-built inspection facilities at ports halted. There will still be checks on agricultural and food products, but these will be carried out in existing buildings that have been repurposed for the post- Brexit task, the country's agriculture minister has said. Gordon Lyons of the DUP said that recruitment of inspection staff for the new port facilities at places like Belfast and Larne had been stopped, and charges levied on traders bringing goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland were also shelved. Mr Lyons said his decision was based on "practical difficulties" caused by the protocol, which came as part of the UK's trade deal with the EU. The agreement struck saw trade checks enacted on products travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, however these regulatory and customs checks were moved to the Irish Sea to avoid a border on the island of … [Read more...] about Construction of post-Brexit inspection facilities halted in Northern Ireland

Border disruption with the EU, caused in part by Brexit, is expected to cause an economic hit in the first three months of this year, according to Whitehall's fiscal watchdog. In its latest economic forecast, the Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected "near-term disruption" to trade in goods with the EU to reduce gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy, by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2021. The OBR said its previous forecasts had "assumed a smooth transition" to the new trading relationship with the EU, with it expected traders would be given "time to adjust". A special edition of the Sky News Daily podcast will be available from 7pm. Budget 2021: All the key points But it noted that, while the UK had "delayed or reduced" the application of new border checks until later this year, the bloc had "applied full customs requirements due on exports from Great Britain to the EU" since the end of the Brexit transition period … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: EU border disruption to cause economic hit – and Brexit deal to see ‘4% shrinkage in long-term’

Businesses large and small broadly got what they wanted from Rishi Sunak in the short-term. Whether corporation or corner shop, what matters at the moment is how companies get through the next week, not next year, and that means support to retain jobs and offset the cost of enforced closure. Employers and employees had to endure an unnecessary 10-day wait for confirmation that Boris Johnson's COVID roadmap will be backed by an extension of furlough, the business rate holiday and a fresh round of cash grants, but it was welcome nonetheless. Budget calculator: Find out if you are better or worse off If and when the employment support scheme finally ends in September the state will have been paying the wages of millions of workers for 18 months, a remarkable intervention to which millions will literally owe their jobs. The extension runs beyond the provisional 21 June date set by the prime minister for full reopening of the economy offers both a cushion and a … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Cautious Rishi Sunak offers short-term relief to UK businesses but hints at payback to come

RISHI Sunak has set out his Budget 2021 plan to help struggling families and keep British businesses afloat. The Chancellor revealed extra help for 600,000 self employed people with grants of up to £7,500 and said furlough is to be extended until September. He also revealed that hundreds of thousands of self-employed Brits , many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, can now claim direct cash grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Previously they could only claim if they had filled in a recent tax return, which meant millions were shut out. Rishi said the Government will give a fourth grant of up to £7,500 to the self-employed and a fifth one will come over the summer - in line with the furlough extension . The Chancellor also extended the stamp duty holiday until June 30 as house prices rocketed 6.9 per cent year-on-year last month to a record high of £231,061 last month, new data shows. A £20 a week Universal Credit uplift in … [Read more...] about Budget 2021 news – Rishi Sunak supports self-employed with fourth grant and extends stamp duty holiday until September