Employers still nervous as £20bn tax rise ‘hangs over like a fog’, survey says March 28, 2025 Employers remain pessimistic about hiring new staff as businesses “hoped for more” from the Spring Statement, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ Spring Statement saw multi-billion pound spending commitments on defence and construction as she vowed to “kickstart economic growth”. But a new survey of more than 700 UK employers [...]
US tariffs: Trade secretary won’t rule out cuts to digital services tax March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has refused to rule out cutting the digital services tax on major tech firms, amid the prospect of looming US trade tariffs. The business and trade secretary insisted the UK government was “committed to ensuring tech companies pay a fair amount of tax in the UK”, but added that the digital services tax [...]
Spring Statement: Watch out for income tax hikes in the autumn March 27, 2025 The Spring Statement has done little to reassure markets about the Chancellor’s commitment to fiscal discipline, says Aviva’s Vasileios Gkionakis The UK government on Wednesday announced cuts in government spending to rebuild ‘fiscal headroom’ after rising government borrowing costs and anaemic economic growth badly damaged its finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the mix of cuts [...]
US tariffs: Reynolds urges ‘cool heads’ over trade negotiations March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has said it is a time for “cool heads” as the UK engages with the US over tariff plans despite holding a “different set of views” on trade policy. It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK is not planning “at the moment” to introduce retaliatory tariffs on the US, after President [...]
Week in Business: Trump’s tariffs add insult to injury after Spring Statement March 27, 2025 City PM Editor Christian May casts his eye over the Chancellor's Spring Statement and asks whether Donald Trump has just derailed her agenda.
Spring Statement 2025: Labour MP warns of ‘mother of all rebellions’ March 27, 2025 A Labour MP have warned that Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves could face the “mother of all rebellions” over welfare policy.
Analysis: Why are the wrong issues under the microscope? March 27, 2025 You’d be forgiven for assuming one of Sabrina Carpenter’s (admittedly catchy) lyrics might have been echoing in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ head, as she prepared ahead of her (less catchy) Spring Statement yesterday. But, when quizzed at a press conference later that afternoon, Reeves insisted as “a 46-year-old woman”, she is not “personally a huge fan” [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Rachel Reeves won’t rule out tax hikes at next Budget March 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves has declined to rule out hiking taxes at her next Budget, amid growing pushback from Labour MPs over welfare cuts in the wake of her Spring Statement. The Chancellor told reporters at a press conference that she was focused on growing the economy, despite speculation she will have to find more revenue to [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Workers’ rights bill ‘net negative’ for economy, OBR says March 26, 2025 The government’s workers’ rights bill will “probably [have] net negative economic impacts”, the independent fiscal watchdog has said. Labour unveiled their workers’ rights package – the Employment Rights Bill – last year, and measures were hailed by unions as “common sense” reforms for a “fairer economy”. But according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), [...]
Some UK visa and passport fees set to double from April March 26, 2025 The above-inflation increases in visa and passport fees announced in the Spring Budget have been described as “deeply disappointing.” Visitors to the UK will face a seven per cent increase for immigration and passport fees, the government has revealed. Companies also face a more than doubling in the cost of bringing in skilled overseas workers, [...]
