Healey's plan to cut the cost of hiring Neets

Good morning Square Mile watchers,

The Chancellor is drawing up plans to slash the cost of hiring young people, in a bid to curb youth unemployment. That’s a scoop from our politics and economics reporter Mauricio Alencar, who also revealed that the topic was a major priority at the Downing Street retail summit earlier this week.

Meanwhile, five raids and three arrests have been made following a major investigation by the FCA and top cops into a “criminal insider dealing ring”.

So, here’s everything you need to know this morning. We’ll be back in your inbox at noon with Midday Markets.

Matt

By accident or design, Britain is facing a moment of reckoning when it comes to welfare spending.

The issue serves as a major fault line in Westminster, with the Tories pledging to slash the benefits bill while Andy Burnham vows there will be “no crude cuts” to the hundreds of billions of pounds spent across the UK’s web of payments, subsidies and support, writes City AM Editor-in-Chief Christian May.

A move to tackle the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) by reducing hiring costs is likely to feature in Healey’s statement on 28 October, sources told City AM.

Options could include extending reliefs on employers’ National Insurance contributions or offering a tax holiday to companies for a period of time after hiring a young person. Employers do not need to pay NICs on hires under the age of 21. 

Oil prices are rising this morning, after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired missiles towards the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company. Saudi Arabia had struck Yemeni oil depots earlier in the night.

Over 100 staff from the City watchdog and National Crime Agency (NCA) took part in raids on five residential premises across London and Manchester on Tuesday.

Authorities seized more than 30 phones, computers and tablets while suspects, who were left unnamed, were taken into police stations for interviews.

The way an iPhone looks and feels – the way it sits in your hand, the smoothness of the aluminium, the curve of the bezel, its hue and vibrancy – is every bit as important as the gubbins whirring beneath the screen. An iPhone is – for better or worse – an irreplaceable part of your life, an extension of your very being. It needs to look the part, writes Steve Dinneen.

Andy Burnham has pledged to reform legislation around non-compete clauses, but not everyone is happy. Should we ban them? We hear the case for and against in this week’s Debate.

Football regulator boss David Kogan has vowed to quit if prevented from punishing Manchester City’s owners — and is ready to ask government for extra cash to fight any legal challenge from Abu Dhabi.

The Independent Football Regulator has the power to disqualify City’s owners and force Sheikh Mansour to sell up following the club’s conviction for systematically breaking Premier League rules.

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