“This government appears committed to addressing the tough financial realities they’ve inherited, and for that, I commend them. However, it’s ironic that the hardest-working segment in our country – families who run small businesses – are being hit the hardest by these ‘Make Work Pay’ changes. While I’m relieved the Employment Allowance offers some relief for the smallest businesses, who often struggle the most with covering their costs and complying with the seemingly endless rules on tax and employment, the recent focus on ‘protecting the workers’ has created a sense of a ‘them-and-us’ divide in this Budget. Small businesses account…
Browsing: Politics
Leading female AI / Cyber / data expert, Alina Timofeeva’s reaction to today’s Autumn Statement. Alina is associate partner level with experience in FinTech/Ai/Cyber at the Big Four with clients including Santander, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Nat West and Credit Suisse. Alina Timofeeva says: “Innovation” was made a key priority in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget with more than £20 billion funding for the science sector. I welcome the public investment in the UK – however, it is disappointing to not hear about plans to protect the cybersecurity needed so desperately for our country, given the recent scandals including the NHS,…
The increased activity is across the board, with the Private Wealth, Real Estate, Commercial and Retail, Hospitality & Leisure sectors all seeing an increase in instructions from clients looking to transfer and liquidise assets and finalise deals, prompted by concerns about the implications of measures tipped to be announced by the Chancellor on 30th October. “We have seen a more than 200% increase in the last couple of months in enquiries from clients looking for tax advice and especially around the possibility of transferring assets out of their names to take advantage of the current rates of Capital Gains Tax…
In a deeply emotional revelation, Sarah Burgess-Boyd, a victim of the Post Office scandal, has publicly criticized both the company and the government, shedding light on the profound toll the episode has exacted on her life. Burgess-Boyd, a former sub-postmaster from Newcastle, is among the 3,500 branch managers wrongly accused by the Post Office of theft, fraud, and false accounting between 2000 and 2015. These allegations were primarily founded on data derived from the company’s IT system, Horizon, which was later discovered to have significant flaws. Consequently, countless innocent individuals faced prosecution, their lives upended. Despite revelations of innocence, many…
In a comprehensive 740-page World Report for 2024, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sharply criticized the UK government’s performance over the past year, terming it a “disappointing” period for human rights. The report, unveiled on Friday, meticulously scrutinizes the Conservative government’s management of various issues, spanning migration, LGBTQ+ rights, foreign policy, and more. Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director at HRW, did not mince words, stating, “The UK had another challenging year for human rights in 2023.” The report specifically highlighted the erosion of domestic human rights protections and a perceived abandonment of crucial international obligations. One significant point of contention…