UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
Punters cash in on Darling’s budget tie choice
Smokers and top earners were clear losers in Britain’s budget this year, as the government hiked taxes on cigarettes and the highest incomes.
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But a lucky few must have been cheering in front of their televisions during the 51-minute speech.
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Budget-watchers who bet hard cash that the chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, would wear a grey or blue tie to his address got a welcome bit of stimulus from the budget.
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Betting firm Ladbrokes was giving odds of 3/1 and 16/a for a blue and grey, respectively. Perhaps aware of the odds, Darling put on a blue-gray striped one, and Ladbrokes paid out for both colours.
from The Great Debate UK:
The devil will be in the Budget detail
-- Fay Goddard is chief executive of The Personal Finance Society. Any opinions expressed are her own. --
Though it’s a cliche to say that a budget is eagerly awaited you can be forgiven for saying so this time around. This year all eyes and ears will be focused on the Chancellor’s economic figures and forecasts. The big question is how will he balance the books – cut public spending or raise taxes? In the run up to an election cuts are ideal but needs must. What will it mean for personal finances?
Another bumper Budget?
All we’ve heard for the past few weeks is how little room there is for Labour to pump more money into the economy to fight the recession.
The increasingly popular — and confident — opposition Conservatives have gained ground by blaming Prime Minister Gordon Brown for turning the public purse into a public hearse.
from MacroScope:
Show us the money
It says something about the current world that a new economic indicator is about to be unleashed by the Bank of England and it basically tells you whether banks have been doing what they are supposed to do -- lend.
The first Trends in Lending report is due out on April 21 at 0830 GMT. Always nice to have a new indicator, but this one may get a bit more attention than would have been the case a few years ago. It 
is designed to provide up-to-date information about bank lending to households and businesses.
Fit for a banquet?
By Rosalba O’Brien
I’ll tell the truth. When I went to preview tonight’s royal banquet at Britain’s Buckingham Palace, being held as part of the pomp accompanying the state visit of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon, I expected to be writing something on the lines of ‘Credit crunch? What credit crunch?’ – not for the global aristocracy, diplomatic corps and oil company bosses in attendance.
The truth, however, is something rather more ordinary.
Sure, the banquet room is lavish enough, with its giant bouquets, golden tableware, classical carvings and gilded ceiling. It’s certainly a bit bigger than my living room, what with the military band on the mezzanine and all.
from MacroScope:
Watch out for the G20 spin
Be careful this week about buying wholeheartedy into any G20-related spin about supposedly savvy, free-spending Britain and America doing more to combat the world economic crisis than supposedly stubborn, overly cautious Germany and France. The actual figures show it is much more complex than that.
A Reuters calculation on discretionary fiscal stumuli and the International Monetary Fund's assessment show that, if anything, Britain is the significant laggard and that German spending almost matches the United States over the next two years. Here are the IMF's numbers (% of GDP):
UK minister in a spin over climate change doubters
As a top-flight racing driver, Britain’s Science Minister Paul Drayson may seem an unlikely critic of the auto industry.
The self-confessed “car nut” owns a motor racing team and competes in a 200mph Aston Martin in competitions around the world.
Sorry seems to be the hardest word
   Alistair Darling may think it’s time for a bit of collective
responsibility, but anyone who thinks Gordon Brown is about to
apologise for Britain’s current economic travails should think
again.
   The prime minister, who loved to boast about abolishing boom
and bust when he ran the Treasury for a decade, is now
contending with the economy shrinking at its fastest pace in
nearly three decades and the prospect of millions out of work.
from Photographers Blog:
Snowed under
So what do you do when the TV and radio news are all telling you not to travel, and then you receive a group SMS from your company saying stay at home?
Well it's the worse snow storm to hit London in 18 years and all you want to do is get out there and shoot it.
Has Brown lost the Spring in his step?
Is the Labour Party going to regret not hosting a Spring Party Conference this year?
Yes, it is going to save them a lot of cash, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has enough to worry about ahead of the G20 financial crisis summit in Britain in April.
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The Wall
