A Welsh farmer torched hundreds of ‘worthless’ sheep fleeces in protest at rock-bottom wool prices after the pandemic saw the market for the natural material sink to ‘diabolical’ lows. He piled up 800 fleeces from newly-shorn sheep and turned them into a funeral pyre saying it was cheaper to destroy them by fire than to go to … Read more
The economic fallout during the coronavirus pandemic has made the prospect of World War Three ‘a risk’, the UK’s most senior military commander has said. General Sir Nick Carter, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said Britain and the rest of the world would need to ‘learn’ from history and the international missteps that led … Read more
High street chains Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home have collapsed into administration with 866 jobs axed and hundreds more under threat. A total of 64 stores – 56 Edinburgh Woollen Mill and eight Ponden Home – will stay permanently closed. The remaining 328 EWM and 65 Ponden Home stores will continue to trade, Covid-19 … Read more
Britain’s economy will shrink by 11% and unemployment will rise to 2.6million amid Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown, bank of England warns Governor Andrew Bailey said the Bank expects the economy to shrink again He said economic output would be 11% lower at end of the year than at the start Added that unemployment would rise … Read more
Hundreds of workers who have recently lost their jobs are furious with Rishi Sunak after he said the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March. In a major Government U-turn the Chancellor said the move is needed to quell the economic situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The job furlough scheme had been due to … Read more
Rishi Sunak extended the furlough scheme until March today amid renewed lockdowns and demands from Nicola Sturgeon. The Chancellor admitted that the recovery had ‘slowed’ and businesses now faced heightened ‘uncertainty’ in a statement to the Commons. Workers will be able to get furlough at 80 per cent of their usual wage until the end … Read more
The Bank of England pumped another £150billion into the economy as lockdown began today – amid fears that it will send GDP plummeting and destroy jobs. The Bank has increased its mammoth bond-buying programme to £895billion, warning that UK plc’s recovery was already ‘softening’ before the squeeze was announced on Saturday. Interest rates are being … Read more
More than 9,500 jobs have been put in jeopardy at some of the biggest High Street names as England goes into lockdown once again today. John Lewis cut a further 1,500 jobs yesterday, adding to the 1,300 axed when it permanently shut eight stores in July. Lloyds Bank is to make 1,070 more staff redundant … Read more
The pound has slumped against the dollar as the US presidential election battle failed to produce an early result and looks set to continue for days. At midnight, the pound was trading at $1.315 but dropped to $1.290 earlier this morning before settling at around $1.300 in the afternoon. Leading up to election day, markets … Read more
The Foreign Secretary admitted the blanket national intervention was ‘reluctantly’ accepted as a last-ditch attempt to get a grip on the second wave Dominic Raab today claimed England will resort to the whack-a-mole strategy of fighting coronavirus outbreaks when the national lockdown ends on December 2. The Foreign Secretary admitted the blanket national intervention — … Read more