City pushes back against closer ties with EU January 9, 2026 Keir Starmer’s plan to foster closer economic ties with the European Union is likely to exclude financial services after senior City figures pushed back against the reintroduction of EU regulations. The prime minister has called for “closer ties” with the EU in a bid to boost economic growth, with senior cabinet members including justice secretary [...]
Glencore shares surge after FTSE 100 miner merger talks revealed January 9, 2026 The global mining landscape is bracing for a seismic shift after Rio Tinto and Glencore confirmed they are in talks regarding a potential merger. A tie-up between the two FTSE 100 titans would create the world’s largest mining entity, boasting a combined enterprise value of approximately £190bn. Glencore shares rallied nine per cent in early [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Sainsbury’s and Unite dish shareholders cash; Mining merger talks January 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. It was Britain’s retail sector taking centre stage yesterday amid a fresh influx of corporate updates that gave a snapshot of the industry’s December performance. Tesco came out swinging, revealing its market share had climbed to the highest in 10 years after a Christmas sales [...]
London arts sector must learn to speak corporate to save itself January 9, 2026 To protect the vital arts sector, London's creatives must learn the corporate walk and talk, writes Austin Casey.
Fiscal rules are a ‘self-awarded badge of honour’ that ‘make no difference’ January 9, 2026 Fiscal rules are “largely ineffective” and fail to impose discipline on public expenditure, a new report has said, bringing into question claims made by UK Chancellors and the International Monetary Fund that a clear list of targets can stabilise public finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has held up her “iron-clad” fiscal rules, which hinge on changing [...]
Make this the year Britain stops punishing wealth creators January 9, 2026 Britain is now a £1 trillion tax state with the biggest differential between high and low earners in the OECD. Our top 10 per cent face rates comparable to Denmark while middle earners pay less than Americans, except we don’t deliver Scandinavian public services or American entrepreneurship. We’ve stumbled into the worst of all worlds, [...]
Peers warn ‘passive’ Treasury not aware of private credit risks January 9, 2026 The Treasury is being too passive about the risks posed to the economy by the rapid growth of private credit in the UK, according to an influential group of peers who accused ministers of “handing out the donkey work” of overseeing the sector to regulators. In fresh report examining the systemic risk posed by private [...]
Financial services suffer ‘rapid’ fall in business January 8, 2026 Financial services are suffering from a “rapid” fall in business activity, new survey data has shown, pointing to investors’ struggles to revive a spluttering UK economy. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)‘s figures suggested financial services companies experienced a decline in business volumes and profitability at the end of last year, hitting confidence across the [...]
Pension schemes to go under the spotlight in a bid to end poor value January 8, 2026 UK pension schemes could find themselves thrust under the spotlight, as industry bodies look to get savers better offers and quality of service. Schemes will need to publish clear data on their performance, costs and quality of services under proposals brought forward by bodies including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR). [...]
Ministers to offer business rates relief to pubs after backlash January 8, 2026 Panicked ministers are poised to water down the business rates bombshell faced by pubs, after an aggressive backlash from the industry saw over a thousand landlords ban Labour MPs from their premises. The government is expected to announce an overhaul to the way it calculates business rates for pubs within days, which it says will [...]
