Tax hikes dragging investment to worst level since pandemic, CBI says June 18, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ dramatic tax hike on employment has helped push firms’ investment plans down to the worst level in five years, contributing to a downgrade in the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s latest economic outlook. The CBI now believe that the UK economy will only grow 1.2 per cent this year and slow down [...]
The City needs a Thatcher-style revolution June 18, 2025 Fifty years after Thatcher took charge, Canada faces a crisis of confidence and capital— and only bold, radical reform in her spirit can revive its global standing, says Tim Focas Hard to believe, but it is 50 years since Margaret Thatcher took the helm of the Conservative Party. Though her tenure as [...]
Labour is locking Britain into a high-tax, low-growth doom loop June 18, 2025 Tax, borrowing, the cost of borrowing, unemployment and inflation are all going up, while growth is going down. Yet in the face of this, Labour’s instinct is to tax more, spend more and centralise more, says Simon Clarke When in a big hole, muddle the figures so nobody can understand them. That’s what Paul Johnson [...]
Tories: Labour desperate to use bookies tax to bail out Rachel Reeves June 17, 2025 Shadow sport and gambling minister Louie French has ripped into the Government over its plans for gambling taxes so soon after a sector white paper, describing them as a threat to bookies and horseracing. The Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup said Labour were “desperate” to find “easy tax rises to bail out Rachel [...]
Thwaites ‘extremely nervous’ Rachel Reeves will raise taxes in Autumn Budget June 17, 2025 Beer brewer Thwaites is “extremely nervous” about the possibility of Chancellor Rachel Reeves raising taxes further in her Autumn Budget. The Lancashire-headquartered group, which also owns pubs and hotels, added its industry is “under tremendous pressure” from Reeves’ first Autumn Budget due to the increases in the National Minimum Wage and the employer’s National Insurance [...]
Why the Bank of England will hold interest rates June 17, 2025 At every other meeting, the Bank of England publishes its monetary policy report alongside its interest rate decision. Each lengthy report includes fresh details on revisions to central forecasts, which are poured over with glee by economists and investors.. But this Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting will offer few statistical goodies. Officials will meet [...]
Secure Trust Bank taps Labour donor tied to cronyism scandal as new boss June 17, 2025 An ex-Treasury director who was at the heart of Labour’s “cronyism” scandal has been tapped to take the helm at specialist lender Secure Trust Bank. Ian Corfield, who also spent nearly a decade as chief commercial officer of New Day, will replace retiring chief executive David McReadie. Corfield stepped down from his civil servant role [...]
Rachel Reeves mulls inheritance tax U-turn as non-doms flee June 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves is reportedly mulling over changes to inheritance tax (IHT) on non-doms for assets held around the world, as pressure has ramped up from the City. That’s according to a report in the Financial Times, with “tweaks” to current rules to stem the UK’s haemorrhaging of non-doms. This potential U-turn follows pressure on the [...]
Further job cuts needed to cope with tax raid, businesses warn June 17, 2025 Businesses across Britain are planning another round of job cuts to deal with the pain of Rachel Reeves’ national insurance raid, laying bare the scale of the financial pressure wrought by the government’s £20bn tax hike after it came into effect in April. As many as one in three businesses said they were planning to [...]
Carried interest: London’s dealmakers bask in rare lobbying win June 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves went into the 2024 general election promising to close the “carried interest loophole” long-enjoyed by “asset stripping” private equity executives. So far, though, the sector has escaped the worst of Labour’s promised crackdown, writes Ali Lyon. For someone who once argued private equity was full of asset strippers driving beloved British businesses to [...]