Finance
Tax havens ‘serve no useful economic purpose’ – only benefit rich at expense of poor
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Three hundred leading economists have said that tax havens serve no useful purpose and only increase inequality. The charity Oxfam organised the open letter and has been released ahead of an anti-corruption summit this week in London. In the letter to world leaders the economists, including the Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang, say that tax havens “undoubtedly benefit” rich individuals and multinational corporations, but this benefit is at the expense of the rest of society. The...
Borough market is 2,500th ‘real’ Living Wage employer
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor One of the Britain’s most famous markets has become the 2,500th ‘real” living wage employer, a whole two pounds twenty pence more than the Chancellor’s version of the living wage. The 11th century market, has decided to increase how much they pay their staff to a level which means workers should be able to sustain themselves to a reasonable level in the capital. The market, which is 1,002-years-old, decision has been hailed by Living Wage...
Disposable income growth worst in London
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor New research has revealed that London has half of the ten worst performing areas for an increase in disposable income. Over the last five years Londoners have been squeezed by rising housing costs and also lower bonuses for those in the financial services industry, which has accounted for the slowdown. The City of London and Camden were the only places in the UK to have seen a decrease between 2009 and 2013, according to figures...
Nearly 10 MILLION meals handed out by food banks in one year
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor There were ten million meals given out to broke Brits last year, and almost four million of those went to feed hungry kids. The Trussell Trust shared out more than 1.1million three-day food provisions, with over four hundred thousand going to children. The food bank operator food supplies contain three meals for each day, which adds up to 9,983,781 meals over the year. This is an increase of 220,000 meals in comparison in the year...
London’s first time buyers will need £106,000 salary to buy average home by 2020
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor People in the capital will need to earn over £100k a year by 2020 to purchase their first home according to a report by housing and homelessness charity Shelter. First time buyers will need an average deposit of £138,000 to keep up with the staggering rise in house prices in the capital. Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “When house prices are increasing fifteen times faster than the average wage, it’s no wonder Londoners on...
Corbyn fined £100 for filing his tax return late
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Jezza was slapped with a £100 fine for filing he tax return for 2014/15 on Feb 6th missing the Jan 31st deadline by quite a long time. Corbyn declared an additional income of £1,850 which included earnings from lectures, taking his total pay to £70,795 and he paid a total of £18,912 in income tax. A spokesman for Corbyn blamed a “busy few months” after he was voted in unanimously as opposition leader in September. This...
World’s first local currency cash machine now in Brixton
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor London leads the way again as the world’s first ever local currency cash machine opened in Brixton, the birthplace of David Bowie. The ATM which can be found in Market Row allows you to withdraw Brixton bank notes, which can only be spent in the local area. Notes can be used in over 300 local independent businesses, including shops, bars, and restaurants. The notes feature images of local heroes, including Luol Deng and David Bowie...
VIDEO – Use ‘clever financial products’, said George Osborne in 2003
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Please have a watch of this video of George Osborne's 2003 appearance on BBC2's Daily Politics programme. The future chancellor encourages a caller to look into 'clever financial products' that let homeowners to pass on the value of their home to their children and also get personal care paid for by the state. 'I probably shouldn't be advocating this on television,' he later says during the conversation. Watch Video Here
Amount of bankers earning over €1m up to almost 3,000
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The City of London has more than three times as many multi-millionaire bankers as the rest of the European Union combined. The number of bankers with a take home pay of over one million Euros (£800k) per annum rose to almost 3 thousand in 2014, one of which made an astonishing €25 million. The UK, which houses Europe’s biggest financial district in London, dwarfs the rest of the EU bankers in terms of large salaries,...