FTSE 100 Live: Stocks fall as Trump ramps up pressure; Unemployment at four-year high January 20, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. Thousands more Brits exited the jobs market in November as the estimated number of payrolled employees fell by 33,000. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and hit 5.1 per cent in September [...]
Starmer is right to play it cool with Trump January 20, 2026 There was a time, really not that long ago, when Davos concerned itself mostly with feel-good sessions on sustainability, inclusive growth, the promise of net zero and various other progressive causes. Who can forget Bono chatting away on stage with Rwanda’s president on the importance of transparency and good governance? Or 2020’s inspiring theme of [...]
Farage to ‘have some words’ with Trump over ‘hurtful’ UK trade threats January 19, 2026 Nigel Farage has attacked President Trump for his tariff threats against the UK, adding that he would be “having some words” with US administration officials during meetings in Davos on Wednesday. In a statement the Reform UK leader said threats against the UK were “not the kind of thing we would expect”. It is the [...]
U-turn on ID cards reveals a deeper flaw in Starmer’s Labour January 19, 2026 With his latest U-turn, Keir Starmer has taken a controversial policy which nonetheless had a substantial support base and made it deeply unpopular. It’s of a piece with his whole approach to government, says Eliot Wilson Last week the government announced – or perhaps admitted? – that the digital ID unveiled last year will not [...]
US tariffs war could ‘trigger UK recession’ January 19, 2026 President Trump’s latest tariff package could plunge the UK economy into a recession, top economists have warned, upping the stakes for Keir Starmer as he responds to threats against Greenland. The US president warned leading European nations, including the UK, he would slap additional 10 per cent tariffs on goods imports if a deal for [...]
Rachel Reeves is acting like the mayor in Jaws – and small businesses are suffering January 19, 2026 The FTSE may be at an all-time high, but Reeves should not pretend all is calm when the waters are extremely choppy for small businesses, says Andrew Griffith Embattled ministers love good news to boast about on social media or in a TV studio, and this government’s most embattled minister, Rachel Reeves, is no exception. [...]
Trump tariffs: EU ‘has tools at disposal’ to hit back amid Greenland spat January 19, 2026 The European Union has pledged it has the “tools” to hit back at the US after President Trump’s latest trade offensive amid the deepening Greenland crisis. In a daily briefing the European Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson and trade lead, Olof Gill, said “should the threatened tariffs be imposed, the European Union has tools at its disposal [...]
IMF: UK economy to lag behind growth of advanced economies January 19, 2026 The UK economy is set to grow at a slower pace than the average across advanced economies in each of the next two years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said, in a warning on the Labour government’s ability competitiveness against world powers. The IMF has kept its UK growth figures for 2026 and 2027 [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gold soars as Trump’s tariffs threaten trade war January 19, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. It might be a new year but it’s the same issues controlling the global markets. The FTSE 100 closed last week one per cent higher than it started at 10,235.29p. But this came around 24 hours prior to President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff attack on [...]
Starmer slams Trump’s UK tariff threat over Greenland January 18, 2026 Keir Starmer has joined European leaders in condemning Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on the UK and several Nato allies. The prime minister has warned the move risks damaging transatlantic trade and collective security. The US president said goods exported from the UK to the US would face a 10 per cent tariff [...]
