Papers

UK interest rates can only head one way and that is up according to comments by Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Paul Tucker, carried in The Scotsman.

UNSURPRISINGLY, the Budget gets top billing across the front pages today, with many newspapers noting just what a politicised document the governing Labour Party has presented.

A MAJORITY of Independent Financial Advisers will have to delay their St Patrick's Day celebrations as a flood of consumers are seeking their advice in an eleventh-hour rush to avoid the changes expected to be announced by Gordon Brown later today.

RUTH KELLY MP and Lord Penrose, author of that all-important report into the near-collapse of Equitable Life, are up in front of the Treasury Select Committee this morning, says the Times, so policyholders will be watching closely to see whether their...

CHANCELLOR GORDON Brown is expected to deliver a "no-thrills" Budget this Wednesday after it emerged he will try to avoid any tax hikes in the run-up to next year's election.

Aegon Asset Management is dismantling its equity team and effectively clearing out 13 members of staff, says this morning's Scotsman.

PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair yesterday slashed former and current Equitable Life policyholders' last bit of hope after he ruled out government compensation, saying it would not be financially possible.

YESTERDAY'S PUBLICATION OF an National Audit Office report into the number of people likely to be netted by the proposed £1.4m lifetime contributions limit to pensions will be seized on by chancellor Gordon Brown to push pensions simplification in next...

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS will spurn policyholder calls for government-sponsored compensation later this afternoon, suggests the FT, which appears to have seen an advance copy of the long-awaited Penrose report into the near-collapse of Equitable Life.

EXPERTS PREDICT interest rates will rise in four week's time after the Bank of England yesterday decided to keep borrowing costs on hold at 4%, says the Scotsman.