Government borrowing in March dwarfs expectations April 23, 2025 Government borrowing overshot expectations as it hit £16.4bn in March, official data has revealed. Ballooning levels of borrowing will likely come as a blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is under pressure to keep public finances in balance. Reeves left herself £9.9bn at last month’s Spring Statement as she made around £14bn of cuts, mainly [...]
If the ONS can’t measure productivity, how are we meant to improve it? April 23, 2025 The ONS's shortcomings are far from trivial, its bad maths is holding back the UK economy, writes Paul Ormerod.
Reeves pledges to defend UK interests ahead of IMF meetings in Washington April 22, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to “defend Britain’s interests” as she prepares to meet fellow finance ministers in Washington and push for a US trade deal. Reeves will spend three days in the US capital for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s spring meetings of finance ministers and business leaders from across the G7 and G20. [...]
IMF slashes UK growth forecast as tariffs create ‘significant slowdown’ April 22, 2025 The IMF has downgraded its UK growth forecast by 0.5 per cent this year as President Donald Trump’s trade war brings global tariff rates to “centennial highs”. The IMF said the UK economy would grow by 1.1 per cent growth this year, reflecting leading forecasters’ worries about the ongoing global trade war between US and [...]
Reeves’ tax rise to push up inflation, BoE’s Megan Greene warns April 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ national insurance tax rise will push up inflation and lead to a “shake-up” of the labour market, Bank of England rate-setter Megan Greene has warned. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Greene said she was particularly concerned about “weakness in output” for the best part of a year as she suggested Reeves’ tax [...]
Reeves: Cutting ties with China would be ‘foolish’ April 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said it would be “foolish” to stop engaging with China. Reeves is due to hold talks with the US next week amid efforts to strike a trade deal, which the UK hopes can help soften the brunt of Donald Trump’s tariffs. There has been speculation that Washington may press the UK [...]
Staff at small businesses suffer falling wages April 18, 2025 Staff at small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) saw their wages fall at the end of March, new analysis suggests, as firms wrestled to absorb the impact of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ national insurance tax hikes. Data released by the Office for National Statistics this week suggested that wage growth across the wider UK economy has exceeded five [...]
Week in Business: Labour’s jobs madness as employers urge change of plan April 17, 2025 Business Secretary Johnny Reynolds was so fed up with people criticising him for never having run a business that he bought himself a whopping great steel mill in Scunthorpe. Now firmly a member of the boss class, will he have sympathy with the business chiefs who this week begged the government to rip up their [...]
UK-US trade deal could be agreed within weeks, as MPs call for vote April 17, 2025 A trade deal between the UK and the US could reportedly be agreed within weeks, as senior MPs have called for Parliament to have a vote on any such agreement. According to a report in the Telegraph, White House officials believe a deal with the UK could be finalised with President Donald Trump’s administration in [...]
Sadiq Khan calls for youth mobility scheme to support London businesses April 17, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan has called on the government to sign up to a youth mobility scheme with the European Union (EU) to boost London’s growth and support the capital’s businesses. The London mayor warned Britain needed protection from the “economic storm” of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new global trade tariffs, which have sparked fears [...]
