Tourist tax: Lisa Nandy says Labour may ‘explore’ restoring VAT free shopping April 16, 2025 Lisa Nandy has said the government “could explore” restoring VAT free shopping after hearing “very loud and clear” the calls from the industry to scrap the so-called tourist tax. The culture, media and sport secretary told Elle UK magazine that fashion was in the “soul of the nation” and ministers recognised its “centrality” to the [...]
FCA to rip 140 pages out of handbook in deregulation drive April 16, 2025 The UK’s financial watchdog has vowed to rip scores of pages from its handbook as it slashes red tape in a drive to boost growth. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said as many as 140 pages will be removed from the lengthy handbook, as it opened a consultation on scrapping data collection requirements. The move [...]
Stealth income tax hike will hit millions of over 60s April 16, 2025 Millions more Brits, including a significant percentage of over 60s, will be dragged into paying income tax in the coming months as Rachel Reeves squeezes the spending powers of lower earners with a freeze on tax bands. Official data suggests that around 11m Brits will begin paying the basic rate of income tax by 2028. [...]
Government scrambles to swerve Trump pharma tariffs April 16, 2025 A race against time is underway to shield the UK pharmaceutical sector from potentially swinging Trump tariffs on imported drugs. As it stands, there is an exemption for pharmaceuticals on the baseline 10 per cent tariffs for goods coming into the US. However, President Trump has warned that there will be tariffs on imported pharma [...]
Inflation eases in March amid looming Bank decision April 16, 2025 Inflation remained stubbornly high at 2.6 per cent in March, official data has shown, leaving Bank of England policymakers with a difficult decision to make on interest rates early next month. The year-on-year increase in consumer price inflation (CPI) was lower than the 2.7 per cent figure forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists. The [...]
Firms scramble to ‘protect bottom line’ amid low growth April 16, 2025 Firms across the UK are putting in “hard work” to limit cost pressures and maintain profits amid low growth, one of the country’s biggest banks has said. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s aggressive tax hikes at her last Autumn Budget have piled higher employment costs on businesses large and small, threatening to kill off some companies by [...]
Should employers brace for the arrival of Banter Police? April 16, 2025 On his first day in office following Labour’s election victory last summer, Keir Starmer promised to provide the country with “a politics that treads a little lighter on all of our lives.” In hindsight, this seductive proposition could mean different things to different people. At the time, I optimistically took it as a promise to [...]
British Steel: Reynolds would view Chinese firms in ‘different way’ April 15, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has said he would “look at a Chinese firm in a different way” from those of other nations on involvement in the UK steel industry. But the business secretary has insisted the UK government took control of British Steel because of “one specific company”, and did not rule out Chinese firms being involved [...]
Are private markets approaching a tipping point? April 15, 2025 As money continues to pour into private markets, concerns are mounting that the sector is expanding too fast in an unfriendly environment. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in private markets, with fundraising doubling over the last decade, leading to $13.1 trillion (£9.9 trillion) in assets under management across the sector. [...]
Inflation expected to ease slightly in March amid uncertain future April 15, 2025 Inflation in the month to March is expected to remain well above the Bank of England’s target rate of two per cent, putting policymakers in an awkward position ahead of a potential interest rate cut in May. A Bloomberg poll of economists said that consumer price inflation (CPI) on a year-on-year basis will hit 2.7 [...]
