King’s Speech shows incremental change is all Starmer knows May 13, 2026 Keir Starmer says incremental change won't cut it, yet his King's Speech was nothing but tinkering and rearranging, writes Matthew Bowles.
City sounds the alarm on pension inheritance tax upheaval May 13, 2026 City grandees have raised the alarm over government plans to overhaul key rules over pensions and inheritance tax. The sweeping reforms will allow scheme providers to retain half an outstanding pension pot to ensure executors can cover potential bills for inheritance tax, or IHT. Due to take effect in April next year, the changes will bring [...]
Jury trial controversy looms over Starmer after King’s Speech points to reform May 13, 2026 Controversial government plans to trim back the use of jury trials were included in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, as an embattled Keir Starmer persevered with an long-trailed overhaul of the UK’s criminal justice system. The Courts Modernisation Bill could become the latest issue over which Downing Street and the parliamentary Labour Party clash at [...]
Farage to face probe on £5m gift from Harborne May 13, 2026 Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is set to be investigated by the parliamentary standards committee after he received a £5m donation from Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before being elected as an MP. Farage will be probed on whether he broke a code of conduct for MPs on failing to declare the large gift [...]
Westminster permadrama is sabotaging productivity May 13, 2026 The constant drama of Westminster is distracting politicians, investors and the general public from getting on with what they're meant to.
Pension fund snaps up cut-price government bonds amid Starmer sell-off May 13, 2026 One of the UK’s largest pension funds has jumped on the turmoil that speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed on the gilt market, scooping up government bonds at multi-decade low valuations. Standard Life has added to its holding of UK government debt, City PM understands, seizing on a sharp dip in the of the [...]
Ticket tout bill branded as ‘not enough’ as Labour confirms crackdown May 13, 2026 After months of pressure from the music industry and furious fans, Labour has confirmed plans for a sweeping crackdown on ticket touting as part of Wednesday’s King’s Speech. But reforms may still be years away from becoming law. The draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill would make it illegal to resell tickets for live events above [...]
Ministers to be handed ‘statutory powers’ to steer regulator’s growth agenda May 13, 2026 Ministers will be handed new “statutory powers” to steer UK watchdog’s growth agenda and define what it means in different “regulatory contexts“. In the King’s Speech, the government revealed its Regulating for Growth Bill – a cross-sector piece of legislation designed to beef up the UK’s regulatory system’s fostering of growth. The government’s report takes [...]
IEA warns of ‘record’ oil drawdown after ‘unprecedented’ Strait of Hormuz supply shock May 13, 2026 The West’s international energy watchdog has warned that oil stockpiles were being drained at a record rate last month as the US’s war in Iran continues to choke supply in an “unprecedented” supply shock. The International Energy Agency revealed that around 4m barrels of oil a day were tapped from back-up supplies in April, within [...]
Uzbekistan national investment fund lists in London after $604m IPO May 13, 2026 Uzbekistan’s national investment fund has completed the country’s first ever public market debut, raising hundreds of millions of pounds at a valuation of £1.5bn, in London’s first major IPO of 2026. In an update on Wednesday, the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uznif) confirmed it had completed its dual listing on both [...]
