Jonathan Reynolds in Washington for first in-person trade talks March 18, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds is in Washington DC for the first in-person trade talks under President Donald Trump’s administration. The business and trade secretary is in the US capital today for talks which officials said were aimed at strengthening UK-US ties and to discuss a wider economic deal. Reynolds will meet US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and [...]
No10: Government ‘absolutely committed’ to independent football regulator March 17, 2025 The government has insisted it remains “absolutely committed” to the incoming football regulator despite chancellor Rachel Reeves’ desire to slash bureaucratic bodies. Reports suggested that plans to get rid of a number of quangos, as well as Reeves’ opinion that regulators are “too slow to get things done”, could have resulted in the Football Governance [...]
Reeves doubles down on fiscal rules amidst waning headroom March 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves doubled down on her fiscal rules in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, despite speculation that economic conditions have left the chancellor with little or no room for manoeuvre. Following the Autumn Budget, Reeves was left with a £9.9bn buffer to maintain her key rule for day-to-day spending to be funded by [...]
Keir Starmer vows to cut costs for business and ‘unleash’ private sector March 17, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to cut costs for businesses and “unleash the power of the private sector” in a bid to deliver economic growth. Writing for City PM the Prime Minister described it as “an outrage” that the government “does not know how much it costs business to comply with the regulations imposed on [...]
What was the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies? March 17, 2025 The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies is the latest (and perhaps the most obscure) victim piled upon the government’s bonfire of quangos. First there was the Payment Systems Regulator, which was rolled into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Then, Sir Keir Starmer announced his most radical health reform yet by shuttering NHS [...]
OECD slashes UK economic forecasts amid global slowdown March 17, 2025 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cut the UK’s economic growth forecasts due to stubborn inflation and an escalating trade war. The OECD’s new interim report scaled back UK growth to 1.4 per cent in 2025 and 1.2 per cent in 2026 – down from previous projections of 1.7 and 1.3 per [...]
Reeves to meet regulators as Starmer pledges to cut red tape March 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves will meet with regulators on Monday, as the government sets out to cut the cost of regulation on businesses by a quarter. The Chancellor has summoned eight regulators to Number 11 Downing Street, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Health and Safety Executive. Sir Keir Starmer told City PM in an [...]
I’ll cut regulation and unleash the animal spirits of the private sector March 17, 2025 In an exclusive article for City PM, the Prime Minister says “it is an outrage that government does not know how much it costs business to comply with the regulations imposed on them” and declares that his “will be the first government to baseline these costs” – before slashing them. Last week, I set out [...]
Ukraine peacekeeping plans entering ‘operational phase’, Starmer says March 15, 2025 Planning for a peacekeeping force for Ukraine will move to an “operational phase”, the Prime Minister has said after a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” on Saturday. Sir Keir Starmer said military chiefs would meet in London on Thursday to “put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace [...]
Ministers must get a grip of broken benefits system, Reeves insists March 15, 2025 Rachel Reeves has doubled down on the need to reform the welfare system, insisting the government must “get a grip” on it amid concerns from Labour MPs about the impact of expected cuts to the budget. The benefits system is “broken” and is “not working for anyone”, the Chancellor said. Backbench Labour MPs have made [...]
