Peter Kyle: We will get rid of 25 per cent of regulation September 30, 2025 Business secretary Peter Kyle said there were “absurdities” across regulatory bodies for businesses as he vowed to cut burdens by 25 per cent. In a fringe event at the Labour party conference, Kyle struck a bold tone on the extent of red tape holding the UK economy back, adding that he was asked by Keir [...]
Business sentiment sours as firms brace for tax hikes September 30, 2025 Business sentiment slumped in September as firms were braced for a fresh round of tax hikes in the autumn Budget. Private sector confidence slipped from 54 per cent to 42 per cent, according to the Lloyds Business Barometer survey, data which is typically seen as more cheery than rival surveys. Economic optimism edged down for [...]
Trump launches fresh tariffs as government shutdown looms September 30, 2025 In a frenetic 24 hours for the President, Donald Trump has launched fresh tariffs on the US’s trading partners as his government looks to be marching towards shutdown. The White House has said it will charge a 10 per cent tariff on foreign softwood lumber and timber, used in a wide variety of building materials, [...]
UK economy stalls in second quarter September 30, 2025 The UK economy grew at a sluggish pace of 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year, official data has shown, another major setback for Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ as she hopes to oversee higher growth. The Office for National Statistics left its growth figure unchanged from a previous estimate as it confirmed its [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Asos and Close Brothers lead City stocks’ fall as economic growth slows September 30, 2025 Good morning from the City PM liveblog team. When Rachel Reeves prepared her inaugural budget last year, she had little in the way of good news to impart to the people of Britain. The chancellor said she’d been left a bad inheritance, and had to raise tens of billions of pounds in extra taxes to plug spending [...]
EY hires Treasury director to bolster financial services team September 30, 2025 Big Four giant EY has recruited HM Treasury’s director of financial services to add to its financial services risk practice. As exclusively shared with City PM, John Owen has joined EY as a UK consulting partner after over two decades in government. Owen started off in the Ministry of Justice in 2005, before moving to [...]
Rachel Reeves was overshadowed by her future self September 30, 2025 The Chancellor’s speech yesterday was overshadowed by one she hasn’t yet delivered; that’ll be the Budget, on 26 November. The whole country knows that the November Budget is going to be painful, one way or another, and its inevitable constraints (in fact, just the timing of it) meant that Reeves wasn’t able to say much [...]
Starmer warns of ‘long and difficult road’ to build fairer country September 29, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer will tell Labour members that the government faces a “long and difficult” path towards rebuilding the country in a speech set to define his leadership after a troubled year in office. Starmer’s speech on Tuesday afternoon will warn the audience at the Labour Party Conference that decisions will not be “cost-free”, [...]
Will we mourn the loss of WH Smith from the high street? September 29, 2025 So long then, WH Smith, a firm which has graced our high streets for more than a century – even though it never intended to. Founded as a small newspaper kiosk in Mayfair in 1792, the business grew massively in the mid-19th century, spurred by the rapid expansion of the railways, which allowed consumers up [...]
Rachel Reeves warns ‘harder choices’ coming at Budget September 29, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned that her choices will be “harder” at this year’s Budget, with questions being raised on whether she will row back on Labour manifesto tax commitments to plug a £30bn shortfall. In a speech at the Labour Party conference, Reeves said that “harsh global headwinds” and the effects of her Tory [...]
