In a surprising development, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has today received the backing of 35 of the U.K.'s largest companies with regards to his spending cut plans. Bosses from companies such as Marks & Spencer, BT and GlaxoSmithKline are amongst a host of companies who have written an open letter to the Daily Telegraph pleading for George Osborne not to water down his spending cuts.
Over the last few days we have seen some very negative press comment regarding alleged agreements in relation to budget cuts with areas such as the Ministry of Defence very prominent. However, there is a growing feeling amid new rumours from Parliament that the UK government is looking to cast a very dark shadow on the forthcoming spending review only to "pull rabbits out of a hat" at the final moment and "save the day".
The UK government has announced the reorganisation of 192 publicly funded quangos which will disappear or merge with existing organisations. This has been the largest ever reorganisation of the quango sector which is something of a grey area in the UK being funded by the UK public yet unelected. While there have been many headlines over the years regarding the remuneration packages afforded to some of these quangos there is no doubt that they do have a part to play in the UK economy.
The UK government is believed to be considering a reduction in the number of tax incentives connected to ISAs which have proved to be very popular amongst UK investors. While initially ISA accounts were deemed to be the property of the rich and famous they have in fact been used as tax efficient investment vehicles for many people in the UK. Indeed many ISAs have taken over from the traditional retirement pension plan due to the many tax incentives available.
The Ministry of Defence is today said to be more than happy with the revised budget analysis which will see the early indication of a 10% cut, significantly reigned in. While we have yet to see the exact figures for the overall public-sector spending review there is no doubt that a concerted effort by the Defence Minister Liam Fox and last-minute intervention by David Cameron has saved the day.
Ed Miliband, the new leader of the Labour Party, has been very vocal with regards to the so-called "squeeze middle" which in effect is the middle classes in the UK who are being squeezed by UK government spending cuts, tax rises and benefit reductions. As a consequence, many believe that Middle England will be the new battleground for future political power in the UK with Ed Miliband already making strides in this particular area.
Despite the fact that Sir Philip Green has only been in his advisory role for a relatively short space of time he has pinpointed a number of issues which the UK government needs to address sooner rather than later. It seems there is no central buying policy across the various government departments and potentially millions of pounds a year could be "wasted" with various discounts and tighter funded arrangements falling by the wayside.
Vince Cable, the business secretary for the UK government, has this evening issued an attack on Topshop entrepreneur Sir Philip Green claiming that he should "pay his taxes in the UK". Those who have been following the UK government of late will be well aware that Sir Philip Green has been appointed as an adviser for David Cameron to try and clean up public-sector spending and reduce the public sector budget. However, his tax affairs have been under scrutiny on numerous occasions because of the tax situation for himself and his wife and the fact his wife is based in Monaco.
The UK government has today announced the abolition of a whole host of quangos which are effectively unelected bodies which depend upon taxpayer funding to carry out their activities. They range from everything from the Competition Commission to a quango in charge of farm labourer rates of pay. The government has confirmed the largest restructuring of these particular unelected bodies for decades at a time when they were beginning to cost UK taxpayers a significant amount of money.
David Cameron is under pressure from the US authorities in relation to rumours that he will rubberstamp a 10% reduction in defence spending in the UK. It is believed that the forthcoming budget review will see major cuts across the board and while the defence sector will not be hit as hard as many other areas, with average spending cuts of over 20%, there is no doubt that US and NATO allies are concerned.