Gef’s Daily Roundup

Bank of England

Starting with the UK this evening, the day began with the International Monetary Fund criticising the UK’s latest budget which saw Chancellor Kwasi Kwarten slash taxes and ramp up borrowing. The IMF said the £45bn proposal will ‘likely increase inequality’ and suggested a fiscal statement in November could be a chance to ‘re-evaluate’ the changes.

Then this after the Bank of England was forced to step in to calm markets after the gov’s tax plans caused the pound to slide. Even after that, the pound fell again, down 1.6% on the dollar.

This has led to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer calling for parliament to be recalled to address the ongoing market turmoil, while ITV’s Robert Peston is reporting Tory MPs are calling for the new Chancellor to resign or be sacked by PM Liz Truss. That seems unlikely as he was doing what she wanted. Of course one man seemed to have seen as this coming, Rishi Sunak, the very man who Truss beat to become PM.

Why does this all matter to us? Simply put, as the pound slides, the money in your pockets, ok on Apple Pay, is worth less than it was as prices will rise, especially on imported food.

Early Warning

The Steam Packet is already warning that sailings may be disrupted on Friday as strong winds and rain are forecast.

A decision will made on Friday’s 8.45am sailing to Heysham and 2.15pm return by 7am on Friday morning, while the afternoon’s return trip to Liverpool is also under threat and a decision will be made by 1pm on Friday.

Mini Proms

While September’s Last Night of the Proms was called off due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Manx Concert Brass has decided to present a mini Last Night of the Proms at Braddan Church with Cleveland Medal Winner, Paul Costain taking part too.

MCB said: ‘Following the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we made the decision not to go ahead with this year’s Last Night of the Proms at the Gaiety Theatre. Due to lack of availability we were unable to reschedule the concert this year, so we decided to stage a cut down version our popular annual event at Braddan Church.

‘Although shorter than our traditional Proms, the evening will feature a selection of pieces by both the band and Paul Costain, an interval for refreshments and all the Proms favourites as Paul leads the singing of Jerusalem, Land of Hope & Glory and Rule Britannia.’

The concert is on at Braddan Church on Wednesday October 19 at 7.30pm, entry is free and a retiring collection will be taken for Braddan Church and the Manx National Youth Band.