New research suggests that ideas about hard work and equal opportunity are firmly entrenched, despite the pandemic
âWhat happens if people now on furlough â disproportionately not graduates â emerge into a world of economic crisis and rising unemployment?â A jobcentre in Staffordshire, England. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images
âWhat happens if people now on furlough â disproportionately not graduates â emerge into a world of economic crisis and rising unemployment?â A jobcentre in Staffordshire, England. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images
Thu 4 Mar 2021 08.59 EST
Last modified on Thu 4 Mar 2021 13.02 EST
âWe are meritocrats,â declared Tony Blair in his adoption speech as candidate for Sedgefield in 2001. Nearly two decades later, on 13 December 2019, Boris Johnson travelled from Westminster to Sedgefield as the newly elected prime minister. He was the first Conservative party leader to win the former mining town since 193
Last modified on Tue 2 Mar 2021 17.47 EST
The UK economy is at a pivotal moment, as the chancellor gives his budget speech with businesses and workers under the most pressure since the pandemic struck a year ago.
Here are five key charts that will underpin Rishi Sunakâs statement on Wednesday afternoon.
The UK economy
After gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 9.9% in 2020 â the worst performance since 1709 â the economy remains under pressure at the start of 2021 as the toughest lockdown since the start of the pandemic bites. However, official forecasts due on Wednesday from the Office for Budget Responsibility could paint a rosier picture, as progress administering the vaccine paves the way for a swift recovery later this year.
Last modified on Wed 24 Feb 2021 00.08 EST
Unemployment in the UK edged higher to 5.1% in December as the government’s furlough scheme continued to prevent a steep rise in job losses in the run-up to Christmas.
With much of the economy still in enforced hibernation, the unemployment rate in the three months to December increased from 5% in November and was up by 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics.
More recent figures from HM Revenue & Customs for January showed that there were 726,000 fewer people on company payrolls in January compared with February 2020, before the pandemic.
From the self-employed to those on furlough, what are the mortgage options?
More mortgage deals are now available for first time buyers –but the bad news is that they are relatively expensive. Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
More mortgage deals are now available for first time buyers –but the bad news is that they are relatively expensive. Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
Number of new deals has risen but rates and terms for different categories of borrower vary
Sat 13 Feb 2021 07.00 EST
The mortgage world is increasingly being split into winners and losers, with borrowers who are perceived as low-risk being offered some of the lowest rates on record, and the self-employed and those who are furloughed