‘Nailed on’: Bank of England expected to hike interest rates Economics The Bank of England is expected to hike interest rates next week as policymakers battle to stamp on inflationary pressures building in the UK economy. City analysts have predicted that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will vote to raise interest rates from 3.75 per cent to four per cent. The Bank has been closely monitoring [...]
Natwest shares slump after muted quarter Banking Natwest shares fell after the bank delivered its third-quarter following a muted quarter for profit growth. The FTSE 100 bank recorded a pre-tax profit of £2.2bn, broadly in line with internal consensus and up 1.9 per cent from the same period last year. Its stock fell some four per cent to 611p in early trading. [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 loses steam; oil up as US considers Iran strikes FTSE 100 Live Welcome to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Friday morning and stocks are set to open higher. Oil prices are on the march this morning, up above $112 per barrel after dropping on Thursday afternoon. This follows news that a senior US commander has briefed Trump on his options for resuming its assault on Iran [...]
Why the City isn’t buying a ‘time-limited’ bank tax hike October 30, 2026 John Healey may have opened Pandora’s Box with an increase to the UK bank surcharge. Samuel Norman looks at whether he will resist the temptation to extend it. Few things in British politics have proved to be as permanent as a “temporary” tax. When the Conservatives introduced the 25 per cent energy profits levy in [...]
Rising welfare bill set to ‘swallow’ stealth tax revenue October 29, 2026 Rising benefit costs will “swallow” all the revenue from frozen tax thresholds that are dragging millions of workers into paying higher rates, analysis has found. The Centre for Social Justice has said that the £33bn increase in benefits spending between 2027 and 2032 will broadly match a rise in projected receipts from frozen income tax [...]
Healey’s grid pledge faces test as data centre pipeline stalls October 29, 2026 John Healey’s Budget pledge to fast-track electricity connections for British data centres faces an immediate test, as new research shows only 13 per cent of planned capacity is under construction. The Chancellor announced a new Data Centre Covenant on Wednesday, offering strategically important projects priority access to Britain’s electricity grid in exchange for commitments on [...]
Natwest and Nationwide set for biggest profit hit from Healey’s bank tax raid October 29, 2026 Natwest, Nationwide and Lloyds are set to feel the biggest hit to profit from John Healey’s bank tax raid, analysts have said. The trio of British banks, which have a larger domestic focus than their peers HSBC and Barclays, are the most exposed to Healey’s doubling of the surcharge, according to analysts at RBC. The [...]
Healey under fire on spending plans as UK faces ‘worst decade for living standards on record’ October 29, 2026 John Healey is facing intense scrutiny over his plans to tighten public spending around 2030, as leading economists warned the Labour government is on course to revive an austerity programme while overseeing the worst decade of living standards on record. Budget-crunchers at two leading economics think tanks have offered scathing assessments on the state of [...]
‘What breathing space?’ Top economist and Labour MP debate the Budget October 29, 2026 Moments after John Healey sat down in the Commons, the City AM studio was filling up with guests to chew over what we’d just heard. Our columnist Helen Thomas, aka Blonde Money, joined Editor Christian May and Comment Editor Alys Denby to discuss the economic context and political impact, before it fell to Labour’s Callum [...]
Healey tells Bailey to loosen UK banking regulation after tax hike October 29, 2026 John Healey has told Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey to loosen banking regulation “as quickly as possible” after the government raised taxes on the sector in the Budget. The Chancellor wrote to Bailey following the Budget with a direction for the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to balance its stability mandate with support for economic [...]