Rishi Sunak’s plans to offer £10bn to British households to help ease the cost-of-living crisis risks fuelling inflation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned. Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said further support should be offered to the poorest households as energy bills surge. But he told BBC Radio 4: “I do think we…
The Kremlin has pocketed a $1.9bn (£1.5bn) windfall from wheat export taxes after blocking Ukraine’s grain exports by sea. Disruption sparked by Putin’s invasion – combined with hot weather and droughts – has sent global wheat prices up by more than 50pc this year. The crisis is threatening hunger and famine across the globe, but…
Grant Shapps has warned the world could suffer “a lot of hunger and even famine” as a result of shortages sparked by Putin’s war in Ukraine. He said it was “absolutely essential” that Ukraine – known as the breadbasket of Europe – could continue to export grains. The Transport Minister told Sky News the number…
Gazprom is said to be planning a rebrand of its UK energy supply business as it looks to distance itself from Putin. Gazprom Energy, which is a subsidiary of the state-owned energy giant, is considering changing its name to GM&T, the Financial Times reports. It comes as the company, which supplies more than a fifth…
British households are the most downbeat in at least half a century as the cost-of-living crisis escalates. GfK’s consumer confidence index, which has run since 1974, dropped to an all-time low of -40 this month, a move that may presage a recession. It surpassed a previous nadir of -39 reached during the depth of the…
The FTSE 100 has started the day in the red after Wall Street suffered its biggest rout since the early months of the pandemic as growth fears grip global markets. The blue-chip index fell 1pc, extending its losses after yesterday’s red-hot inflation figures fuelled fears the UK could be tipped into recession. The benchmark S&P 500 plunged…
UK inflation has surged at its fastest rate in 40 years in the latest sign of the cost-of-living crunch for British households. The consumer price index rose to 9pc in April from 7pc in March, according to the latest ONS figures. That’s the sharpest jump in prices since 1982. The retail price index, to which…
The UK has more job vacancies than unemployed workers for the first time on record, putting a strain on businesses and threatening to drive up inflation even further. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.7pc in the first three months of the year – below economists’ forecasts and its lowest since 1974. But after hundreds of…
