The economy fared much better than expected during the November lockdown, triggering predictions that a vigorous rebound is on the cards.
Output, or gross domestic product, contracted by 2.6 per cent in November, the Office for National Statistics said.
This would still be a large fall during normal times, but is much smaller than the predictions of 5 per cent.
And while it was the first time the economy had shrunk since April in the depths of the first lockdown, November s decline was a fraction of the 18.8 per cent slump recorded that month.
At the end of November, the economy was 8.5 per cent smaller than its pre-virus size. Ruth Gregory, an economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said the Covid-19 economic hole is now far smaller than anticipated.
By Paul Fairbairn, partner at Cripps Pemberton Greenish On 9 December the self-styled and in no way government-affiliated Wealth Tax Commission published
UK government figures hide £800 billion hoarded by super-rich
The wealthiest in society are much richer than Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government would have everyone believe.
New research highlighted by the Resolution Foundation estimates that official government figures massively underestimate the growing wealth of the richest in the UK. A huge £800 billion, or five percent of aggregate wealth in the UK held by the wealthiest families, was missed by the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.
The findings reveal that the level of inequality between rich and poor, which rose sharply after the 2008 banking crisis, is much wider than previously thought. The wealthiest one percent owns 23 percent or almost one quarter of the country’s aggregate wealth, rather than 18 percent (less than one fifth) reported by the ONS. During the last year of the pandemic, when so many were plunged into a health and economic catastrophe with at least 95,000 lives lost already th
Divorces rose as the pandemic put families under unforeseen new pressures last year, and now the usual post-Christmas wave of break-ups has begun.
A new law making it quicker and easier to divorce was passed in the summer and will take effect later this year, but it s still important to sort out marital finances properly rather than rush through it.
Money experts offer tips on doing this fairly and explain the risks to avoid below.
Break-ups: A new law making it quicker and easier to divorce will come into effect later this year, but there is no date scheduled yet
The Government is being urged to reform the UK s tax system before pushing ahead with a controversial levy on wealth.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak should focus on sorting out badly designed charges such as pensions tax, council tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax before introducing yet another levy, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.
It comes after the Wealth Tax Commission, made up of economists, lawyers and academics, suggested a tax on people with assets of more than £500,000, or £1million for a couple, including their family home and pension.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Rsishi Sunak should focus on whipping into shape badly designed charges such as pensions tax, council tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax