Starmer’s defence pledges will trigger a tax bombshell June 3, 2025 Here’s a cracker of a pub quiz question for you: what links mega-rich non-doms, nuclear-powered submarines, congestion in Wigan and the Bank of England’s former chief economist? The answer, as so often appears to be the case, is tax. On the day that Keir Starmer unveiled a Strategic Defence Review that calls for nearly £70bn [...]
Starmer’s defence spending will mean ‘chunky’ tax rises, warns IFS June 2, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to boost defence spending will require “chunky” tax rises, according to the chief of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Paul Johnson told Times Radio: “…if we’re really going to spend another £10-15 billion a year on defence, whilst inevitably we’re going to spend more and more on health and pensions [...]
Starmer refuses to commit 3 per cent defence spending despite ‘battle-ready’ claim June 2, 2025 Keir Starmer has been criticised for failing to commit to increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP. The Prime Minister vowed to put in place the “largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War,” with a 2.5 per cent share of GDP going to defence. However, the PM maintained that hitting [...]
Andy Haldane: Reeves ‘not even close’ on growth after ‘rookie errors’ June 2, 2025 The Bank of England’s former Chief Economist has slammed Rachel Reeves’ first near-full year as Chancellor as “disappointing”, with the government “not even close to doing enough” on growth. Less than two weeks out from the 11 June spending review, Andy Haldane told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that there have been “mistakes, rookie errors” that have [...]
Spending review: Government poised to boost NHS and defence sector June 1, 2025 The government’s spending review is likely to focus on the UK’s health and defence sectors, a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests. The spending review, which will be published on 11 June, will allocate departmental funding and budgets for the next three to four years. It has been the subject of speculation [...]
‘No doubt’ UK will spend three per cent of GDP on defence by mid-2030s, Healey says May 31, 2025 Defence spending at three per cent of GDP by 2034 is a firm commitment, John Healey has said. The government has previously set out its “ambition to reach three per cent in the next parliament”, after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027. But the [...]
UK-Gulf states trade deal on the horizon May 30, 2025 The UK is poised to sign a trade agreement with the Gulf states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is expected to be worth as much as £1.6bn, with hopes that the value will rise by an additional £8.6bn a year [...]
Starmer’s EU deal risks stifling the UK’s thriving gene editing sector May 30, 2025 Aligning with EU on genetically modified food and agricultural products will create a regulatory cliffedge for a sector which has investors queuing and in which Britain has the chance to lead the world, says Matthew Bowles Last week, Sir Keir Starmer unveiled plans that could risk quietly derailing one of Britain’s fastest-growing scientific sectors, all [...]
50,000 civil service jobs could be cut in Labour spending review May 29, 2025 Civil servants are facing another round of job cuts, with as many as 50,000 civil service jobs on the line in the government’s upcoming spending review. According to reports, ten per cent of civil servants, who number 500,000 in total, will be culled. The civil service swelled after Brexit and the pandemic, with 130,000 added [...]
Reeves’ tax raids crush business confidence – but worst is yet to come May 29, 2025 Business confidence plummeted in the three months to May as Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes took hold and firms have warned more pain is to come. Consumer services’ optimism marked its eight consecutive month of decline at -42 per cent, whilst levels of business value plunged to -56 per cent. This was down from -44 per [...]
