My ride in a helicopter over London as Leonardo expands its UK presence June 17, 2026 Helicopter travel is the preserve of London’s elite: Celebrities, billionaires and high flying – if you’ll pardon the pun – City chief executives. Leonardo attracted headlines earlier this year when it secured a £1bn contract to build helicopters for the Ministry of Defence. The company had warned it could shut its UK helicopter manufacturing facility [...]
Healey condemns Reeves: ‘Our adversaries do not follow timetables set by the Treasury’ June 16, 2026 John Healey has delivered a stinging criticism of Rachel Reeves’ handling of defence spending, warning that the UK’s enemies “do not follow timetables set by the Treasury”. In his resignation speech in parliament, the former defence secretary took aim at Sir Keir Starmer and Reeves for failing to fully fund the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), [...]
Musk brands UK a ‘police state’ as Big Tech rebels against Starmer’s social media ban June 16, 2026 Elon Musk, Meta and Google’s YouTube have all attacked Keir Starmer’s planned social media ban for under-16s, warning the restrictions will drive teenagers towards less safe corners of the internet and create sweeping new surveillance powers. The backlash comes as ministers consider forcing Apple and Google to carry out age checks on millions of British [...]
Co-Op and Next among firms launching workplace savings scheme June 16, 2026 A new employer-led coalition designed to help workers build emergency savings and boost financial resilience has launched, urging employees to save regularly in order to avoid unexpected financial storms. The National Coalition for Workplace Savings was launched on Tuesday, representing firms across a range of sectors including retail, hospitality and transport, all urging employees to [...]
Streeting attacks Burnham’s pledges as ‘appeal to party at expense of Brits’ June 16, 2026 Former health secretary Wes Streeting levelled a series of thinly-veiled attacks against Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, ahead of a crucial by-election that will likely set a Labour leadership contest in motion. In a speech in Tower Bridge in London, Streeting appeared to criticise Burnham’s political campaign in Makerfield in the weeks leading up to polling [...]
Nationwide fires starting gun on mortgage deals ahead of interest rate decision June 16, 2026 Nationwide has slashed its mortgage rates for the second time in the space of a week, ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday. The building society has taken the chop to its home loan prices, with a 0.28 percentage-point reduction. It follows a 0.12 cut on 10 June. The move comes [...]
Bank of England should hold interest rates, City PM Shadow MPC says June 16, 2026 The Bank of England should hold interest rates as inflation could stay above three per cent for several months, top economists have said. City PM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, a group of leading economists who have provided responses independently of their respective organisations, said interest rates should be kept at 3.75 per cent. Economists warned [...]
Thames Water on cusp of public ownership after ‘weak’ deal June 16, 2026 Thames Water is on the cusp of being placed in temporary public ownership after the government raised concern with a proposed £10bn rescue by its lenders. It was reported last night that the environment secretary Emma Reynolds had outlined a number of concerns to the industry regulator Ofwat ahead of a final decision on the [...]
Rathbones to suspend thousands of client account inflows after FCA probe deals £530m blow June 16, 2026 Rathbones is set to lose out on hundreds of millions of pounds of inflows after it suspended contributions from thousands of customers following an independent investigation into its business amid concerns from the Financial Conduct Authority. The review into the company, known as a skilled person review, uncovered compliance shortcomings in its UK wealth management [...]
As it happened: Stocks rally as Trump touts Iran deal at G7 summit; Oil lowest since early-March June 16, 2026 Welcome back to the City PM liveblog. Global leaders are gathering today in France for the G7 summit as markets digest the latest developments in the US-Iran peace deal. Relief spread across global markets yesterday after the US and Iran were confirmed to have sealed a deal to stop the fighting in the Middle East [...]
