Budget: Treasury focused on ‘closing tax gap’ with US-style whistleblower scheme November 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves revealed in her Budget that the government continues to focus on closing the tax gap, with new measures set to raise an additional £2bn in tax revenue by 2029-30. The Chancellor pledged that the government will target “fraudulent businesses” that don’t pay their tax by providing HMRC with new compliance powers. A large [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves bets on AI – but did she play her strongest card last week? November 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves delivered what many had dubbed the “most anticipated Budget in years”, with industry eyes fixed on how she would position the UK in the global AI race. But just minutes before she even stood up at the despatch box, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) unexpectedly leaked forecasts, fuelling speculation about the state [...]
The pension triple lock won’t ‘last forever’, warns Labour MP November 26, 2025 A Labour MP has admitted that the pension triple lock won’t “last forever”, as the Budget fails to mention an end to the controversial scheme. Speaking live to City AM‘s Christian May and Alys Denby, Chris Curtis, MP for Milton Keynes North, said that the “triple lock inevitably cannot last forever”. He said: “That is [...]
Autumn Budget: Pay-per-mile tax ‘completely wrong move’ November 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hit electric vehicles with a pay-per-mile tax which will cost the average driver £255 per year and raise £1.1bn for the Treasury. Reeves delivered the expected 3p pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles (EVs) at today’s Budget, which she framed as a fairness measure to balance the costs facing drivers. The OBR, the independent fiscal [...]
Budget: ‘Tax on holidays’ slammed by Butlin’s boss November 26, 2025 The chief executive of Butlin’s has slammed Rachel Reeves for introducing a ‘tax on holidays’ in her Budget today. Jon Hendry Pickup has argued that “hospitality businesses like Butlin’s remain caught in the crossfire of the Chancellor’s tax and spend ideology”. The chief executive was reacting to the ‘tourism tax’ which has been welcomed by [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves targets job market with skills package November 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves has used today’s Autumn Budget to unveil a sweeping £1.5bn skills package aimed at tackling the UK’s entrenched labour shortages and sluggish productivity. The Chancellor said the country “cannot compete without investing in our people”, pitching the reforms as central to her long-term economic renewal plan. The measures represent the biggest shake-up of [...]
Autumn Budget: Don’t let OBR gaffe mask Labour’s own mistakes November 26, 2025 The OBR's mistake was spectacular but accidental. The same can't be said for Labour, whose Budget missteps will do nothing to shift the economy.
Autumn Budget ‘deeply concerning’ for squeezed hospitality industry November 26, 2025 The UK’s hospitality industry has been disappointed by the Autumn Budget, with no cuts to VAT and no changes to National Insurance. Even a cut to business rates has been described as “too little, too little” as well as something likely to get wiped out by an inflation-linked revaluation of rates next year. “This is [...]
Budget: Octopus boss Greg Jackson hails cuts to energy bills November 26, 2025 Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson has hailed the cuts to energy bills announced in today’s Budget, as the Chancellor slashed multiple renewable levies. Jackson welcomed the energy bill cuts as a “positive step” as Rachel Reeves described energy costs as “one of the greatest drivers of the rising cost of living”. Reeves said she will scrap [...]
Budget: Kemi Badenoch slams ‘shameless’ Rachel Reeves November 26, 2025 The mood in the House of Commons morphed from rowdy to somewhat tense following the Budget, as Kemi Badenoch launched a series of scathing political and personal attacks on Rachel Reeves. The Conservative leader slammed the Chancellor’s position as “untenable”, and her fiscal announcements as a “Budget for Benefits Street”. Badenoch said: “I hope she [...]