Labour minister: UK-EU trade deal could take another year to kick in July 17, 2025 The UK’s trade deal with the European Union, set to ease food standards and align energy markets could still take another year to come into effect, a Labour minister has warned. In a landmark post-Brexit deal, the UK and EU agreed a deal on food standards to slash red tape for British exporters while giving [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax raid leads to thousands of job losses as wage growth cools July 17, 2025 Thousands of jobs were lost in June, official data has shown, putting the Bank of England under greater pressure to deal with the consequences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £20bn tax raid at its next interest rates decision in August. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “softening” in the labour market could force rate-setters to [...]
Sticky inflation takes shine off Reeves’ week July 17, 2025 If the Chancellor was hoping to bask in the glow of supportive front-page coverage the morning after her Mansion House speech, she would have been disappointed. The spectacular revelations of Whitehall’s hushed-up cock-up over Afghan refugees knocked her off the top of the news agenda pretty much across the board. Only City PM gave her [...]
Financial services firms dealt tens of millions in regulatory fines July 17, 2025 While deregulation may be the political mood, UK watchdogs are sharpening their swords as banking giants bleed millions in regulatory fines. In under just ten days, the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England handed out £74.9m worth of fines to a trio of UK financial services firms. Leading the pack, and most recently, was [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to rule out pension tax raid July 16, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer shied away from ruling out a pensions tax raid at the Autumn Budget despite top researchers’ calls for the government to refrain from adding ever-higher cost burdens on Britons. Keir Starmer has faced repeated questions about several taxes being introduced later this year given City estimates that as much as £24bn [...]
From overcaution to opportunity: how to make risk work for Britain July 16, 2025 Britain is shifting from a culture of excessive risk aversion toward one that embraces calculated risk to drive investment, innovation, and economic growth, says Charles Hall Brits appear to be obsessed by risk. Warnings abound throughout our lives such as endlessly repeating ‘mind the gap’, providing heatwave advice that warmer countries don’t seem to find [...]
A UK captive insurance regime will make Britain more competitive July 16, 2025 The Chancellor used here Mansion House speech yesterday to announce that she is creating a new domestic framework for captive insurance, aiming to attract companies back from offshore financial hubs and reinforce Britain’s status as a global leader in the insurance industry, says Chris Lay Yesterday, as part of the UK Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, [...]
Cohort’s shares rally after soaring defence demand spikes profit July 16, 2025 Defence tech group Cohort shot past market expectations for the year ending April 30 as geopolitical tensions helped spike demand. The London-listed firm, whose customers included the UK Ministry of Defence, recorded a pre-tax profit of £25.6m, up 29 per cent from 2024. This came as revenue jumped 33 per cent to £270m as the [...]
Pressure on Bank of England and Reeves as inflation spikes July 16, 2025 The UK economy is at risk of ‘stagflation’ after official data revealed that inflation edged up to 3.6 per cent in June, putting further interest rate cuts by the Bank of England at risk. In the latest set of price growth data before the next monetary policy decision in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that [...]
Mansion House reforms will make London the destination of choice for financial services July 16, 2025 The Chancellor’s Mansion House speech sets out a new strategy to cut bureaucracy in the UK’s financial services sector, aiming to drive investment, support businesses and savers, and restore the country’s status as a global financial leader, says Emma Reynolds For too long, our most promising businesses have been held back by a system that [...]
