OECD: Taxes and tariffs to damage UK economy September 23, 2025 Higher taxes and the sting from US tariffs are set to restrain UK growth, according to forecasters at the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with inflation soaring above all other countries other than the US. The OECD’s latest update on the state of the global economy said the UK’s “tighter fiscal stance” means [...]
UK economy stalls with 50,000 job losses ahead of Autumn Budget September 23, 2025 The UK economy was hit by a “litany of worrying news” in the three months to September with thousands of jobs lost ahead of Rachel Reeves’ second Autumn Budget. The latest ‘flash’ PMI from S&P Global showed business activity expectations for the year ahead slumped to a three-month low in September as firms braced for [...]
Rachel Reeves told to cut national insurance and raise income tax to gain £6bn September 23, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told to cut national insurance for workers by two per cent and raise income tax by the same amount, with economists at a left-leaning think tank claiming a £6bn gain in revenue could be made. The Resolution Foundation, once the workplace of Treasury ministers Torsten Bell and Dan Tomlinson, has [...]
Infrastructure could be rare success story for Labour September 23, 2025 The decision to allow a second runway at Gatwick is entirely sensible and most welcome. As the Chancellor said yesterday on her visit to the airport, the development “will mean that people going on holiday will have a greater choice of destinations [and] it will mean lower costs for a family holiday.” More importantly, she [...]
Cocoa price surge drives chocolate prices higher September 22, 2025 Surging cocoa prices are driving chocolate prices higher, which is having a disproportionate impact on UK food prices. UK food and drink inflation rose to 5.1 per cent in August, in a fifth consecutive annual increase and the highest since January 2024, amid fears that this figure could reach 5.7 per cent by the end [...]
Labour given fresh warning on ‘real’ risk of fiscal crisis without cuts September 22, 2025 Labour Party parliamentarians have been alerted to the “real” risk of an economic emergency if spending cuts are not made as the incoming tax hikes at the Budget could trim growth and worsen the UK’s jobs crisis. Backbench MPs have been widely blamed for failing to back the government’s small welfare cuts earlier this year, [...]
Banking watchdog launches deregulation push as tax fears grow September 22, 2025 Britain’s banking watchdog has laid out plans to slash regulation across the industry in a bid to sweeten the sector’s operating environment. In fresh proposals hoping to cut the red tape on the sector, the PRA identified 37 “individual reporting templates” which have “overlapping and complex requirements” in a bid to ease the administrative cost [...]
Nigel Farage pledges to take down Boriswave with tougher rules September 22, 2025 Nigel Farage has said he would remove migrants’ indefinite leave to remain rights, which allow people to gain settled status in the UK, as he set out a hardline approach to immigration in the same week President Trump added a fee to a key US worker visa. The Reform UK leader said he would force [...]
Natwest and HSBC shares dip as bank tax chatter heats up September 22, 2025 Shares in Natwest and HSBC dipped on Monday morning as traders digested renewed chatter of a tax hike on Britain’s banking giants. Natwest tumbled as much as 1.3 per cent to 506p when markets opened, while HSBC fell 0.6 per cent to 1,022p. Barclays fell nearly 0.2 per cent to 381p. Lloyds was broadly flat [...]
Labour considers relaxing global talent visa in answer to Trump’s clampdown September 22, 2025 A UK government task force is considering plans to remove fee costs for the global talent visa after the US slapped a $100,000 charge on one of its key worker visas. On Friday night, President Trump put hundreds of thousands of workers on high alert after he signed an executive order adding a hefty business [...]
