Credit card deals disappearing

Tuesday 7th January 2020

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Pricey credit cards

There are fewer zero-interest credit card balance transfer deals available now than at any other time in the past 13 years. There are just 76 0% balance transfer deals available today (paywall) down from 122 at the start of 2017, and many offer very short interest-free periods. The shrinking market for cheap credit comes amid warnings that household debt, including personal loans and credit cards, has grown in the last few years.

Labour leadership race

The race to choose the next leader of the opposition has kicked off, with six candidates vying to win the membership vote and replace Jeremy Corbyn. Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry will bid for the top job. You can check out their stance on key issues, from Brexit to climate change, here.

Train delays

London's Crossrail project (already delayed for three years and over budget by £2 billion) will now take even longer. Parts of it, the Elizabeth line, are already running, but the central section is yet to be completed. The previous estimate was for spring 2021, but this will now slip to the autumn.

Voter rewards

Chancellor Sajid Javid has announced that his delayed Budget on 11th March will "spread opportunity to those left behind". The comments are in reference to the government's manifesto pledge to spend more after a decade of austerity. The focus of the spending spree will be on those areas of the Midlands and the North that switched to Conservative from Labour, handing his government a large parliamentary majority.