What’s different about UK inflation?
20 March, 2024March 20, 2024 Countries experiencing lower inflation boast a combination of more active governments, lower dependence on fossil fuels and real conversations about the role of corporate greed What’s happening in the UK? Today, it was announced that inflation fell to 3.4% in February, having peaked at a 41-year high of 11.1% in October 2022. [...]
Bank of England lending should stop subsidising fossil fuels, says think tank
28 February, 2024Research says green overhaul needed to end ‘hidden subsidy’ to fossil fuel companies London, 28 February 2023 - By accepting financial firms’ fossil fuel assets as collateral against loans made to them, the Bank of England is effectively providing a ‘hidden subsidy’ to environmentally destructive companies, according to a new paper from research and campaign [...]
Taxing banks’ record profits could raise £14bn for public services
23 February, 2024Windfall tax on bank profits would give Chancellor headroom for more spending in upcoming Budget London, 23 February 2024 - A windfall tax on bank profits would raise anywhere between £3.5bn and £14bn from the big four UK banks alone this year, depending on its ambition, according to new analysis from research and campaign group Positive Money. [...]
Lloyds Bank profits: Positive Money response
22 February, 2024London, 22 February 2024 - Positive Money responds to Lloyds Bank’s announcement today that its pre-tax profits for 2023 were £7.5 billion, up 57% from the £4.8 billion it made in 2022. Fran Boait, co-executive director at Positive Money, said: “Massive job cuts due to sweeping branch closures show that Lloyds certainly didn’t make these [...]
HSBC record profits: Positive Money response
21 February, 2024London, 21 February 2024 - Positive Money responds to HSBC’s announcement today that its pre-tax profits 2023 were £24 billion, up from £13.9 billion in 2022. Fran Boait, co-executive director at Positive Money, said: “It’s safe to say HSBC didn’t earn these record profits by providing a better service to customers, given that it closed [...]
Barclays 2023 profits: Positive Money response
20 February, 2024London, 20 February 2024 - Positive Money responds to Barclays’ announcement today that its full year pre-tax profits for 2023 were £6.6 billion. This is down 6% from £7 billion in 2022. Fran Boait, co-executive director at Positive Money, said: “There is no bank less deserving of windfall profits than Barclays: domestically, it is ruthlessly [...]
NatWest 2023 profits: Positive Money response
16 February, 2024London, 16 February 2024 - Positive Money responds to NatWest’s announcement today that its full year pre-tax profits for 2023 reached £6.2 billion. This is a 20% increase on 2022’s figure of £5.1 billion, and the largest annual profit it's made since 2007. Fran Boait, co-executive director at Positive Money, said: “NatWest represents an enormous [...]
3 in 4 UK adults worried about impact of climate change on bills
13 February, 2024Majority concerned about food, housing and utilities costs rising due to global heating London, 13 January - A strong majority of the British public are concerned about the effect climate breakdown will have on their bills, according to new polling commissioned by research and campaign group Positive Money. The polling, carried out by Opinium on [...]
Conflict of interest concerns raised over new financial regulation watchdog
5 February, 2024The government’s pick to oversee financial regulators is also being paid by those with an interest in promoting deregulation, campaigners warn London, 5 February 2024 - Concerns have been raised over the Treasury’s appointment of Rachel Kent as the new Financial Services Complaint Commissioner by research and campaign group Positive Money, as it is revealed [...]