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How to fund social care has once more moved into the political spotlight. It is the turn of the year. The health secretary of the relatively new Labour government announces a commission to review the financing for long-term care of the elderly. Can you name the year? Sadly, there are two correct answers: 1997: in […]

The Chancellor has announced the timing of her next formal report to Parliament. Cast your mind back six Chancellors ago to Philip Hammond (aka Spreadsheet Phil). In autumn 2016, Hammond announced a change to the timings of Budget announcements, with a Spring Budget and Autumn Pre-Budget Report (PBR) to be replaced by an Autumn Budget […]

Inflation fell in 2024, dropping to 2.5% from 4.0% in 2023. So why didn’t it feel like that? At the end of 2022, inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), was 9.2%, having reached a high of 11.1% in the previous October. In 2024, inflation ended the year at 2.5%, […]

One of the nation’s largest investment managers has examined investors’ attitudes in the UK relative to other major developed G7 nations with interesting results. In recent years, Chancellors of both main political parties have spoken about encouraging investment in UK shares. Their focus has been on persuading pension funds to show more interest, not least […]

Action Fraud urges the public to continue reporting phishy emails, with more than 32 million already reported. The reports have led to more than 329,000 websites addresses being removed by the National Cyber Security Centre. Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, launched a national phishing awareness campaign on 24 June 2024, as […]

An introduction to Isas Individual Savings Accounts, universally known as ISAs, began life as relatively simple savings plans in 1999, but over the past 25 years the rules surrounding them have become ever more complex – and may yet become more so. While there have been calls to make the regime simpler and more accessible, […]