Income tax raid tops Brits’ list of Budget fears October 27, 2025 Brits are more fearful of an income tax raid at the Budget than a rise in VAT or stricter rules on inheritance, a survey has found, with mounting speculation now weighing on people up and down the country. Rachel Reeves has signalled that she will raise taxes next month despite saying last year she would [...]
FTSE 100 giant Natwest shares surge to 15-year high October 27, 2025 Natwest shares rallied to a 15-year high on Monday morning after the lending giant’s post-results stock boom continued into the new week. The FTSE 100 titan’s shares were up over one per cent in early trading to 578.60p. It follows the group netting £2.2bn in operating profit before tax for the third quarter – a [...]
Supermarkets call on Chancellor to ‘bring inflation to heel’ October 27, 2025 Britain’s largest supermarkets have called on Rachel Reeves to exclude all shops from upcoming changes to to business rates, warning that any hikes to their input costs would further stoke food inflation that is already at over double the Bank of England’s target. In an open letter to the Chancellor, bosses from the UK’s nine [...]
Are we heading for a 1980s-style inflation spike? October 27, 2025 What lessons should policymakers from the Lawson Boom and subsequent recession? Asks Daniel Mahoney High inflation, unreliable data and a government banking on growth. While this sounds familiar, it was also the situation at the end of the 1980s – the “Lawson Boom”. We know what happened next; inflation soared further and was only eventually [...]
These are the City’s four key recommendations for the Budget October 27, 2025 Financial services should remain VAT-free. The bank levy and surcharge should be phased out over time. And stamp duty on UK shares should be abolished, says Chris Hayward A month from now, the Chancellor faces a selection of stark choices. The easiest among them should be whether to supercharge the UK’s financial services sector – [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Goodwin shares soar, HSBC $1.1bn Madoff hit, Petrofac administration October 27, 2025 Good morning from the City PM liveblog team. Rachel Reeves likes to insist that she will “never play fast and loose with the public finances.” It’s a phrase she deploys quite often, not least when it looks as if the bond market could do with a bit of reassurance, and it means that she won’t [...]
Almost two thirds of charities axe jobs and services over financial strain October 27, 2025 Almost two thirds of charities have axed workers and vital services as they come under pressure from falling income, staff burnout and declining public donations, according to new research. The vast majority have warned they are considering leaving their roles amid intense conditions in the sector, experts at Rathbones have warned. Research by the investment [...]
Number of female high-earners hits record high October 27, 2025 The number of female high-earners in the UK has hit a record high, as more women find themselves holding senior positions in the workplace. According to analysis from Bowmore Wealth Group, the number of high-earning women, those who earn over £125,000 and pay the top rate of income tax, jumped by 12 per cent to [...]
Rishi Sunak: Tax rises at Autumn budget would crush confidence October 26, 2025 Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that she must cut spending at the next budget or risk economic disaster. Writing in his inaugural column for the Sunday Times, Sunak said that Reeves faces a “simple choice: spending cuts or tax rises.” “If the chancellor opts for the latter, it will crush [...]
Reeves ‘to raise national living wage’ in extra burden for firms October 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves is set to confirm a rise in the National Living Wage by four per cent at the Budget, according to reports, in an electorally popular decision that could have severe implications for businesses and the wider UK economy. Businesses have repeatedly warned that the double cost of last year’s tax raid on employers’ [...]
