OBR hands Rachel Reeves first damning pre-Budget report on UK economy October 3, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has handed Chancellor Rachel Reeves its first evaluation of the state of the UK economy and crippled public finances, setting policy discussions about likely £30bn tax rises and possible savings in motion. The OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee, which consists of the economists Richard Hughes, David Miles and Tom Josephs, [...]
Has the wind shifted on Net Zero? October 2, 2025 Once upon a time the promise of Net Zero enjoyed such universal support that a Tory government signed the UK’s Net Zero pledge into law. Today, the Tories say they’d scrap it – while alarm bells are ringing as the costs of the policy become clearer. In June 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May passed a [...]
‘Grotesquely unfair’: 700,000 Brits caught in 60 per cent tax trap October 2, 2025 There are growing calls for the government to overhaul tax rules for top earners after fresh data obtained by City AM revealed just under 700,000 Brits are now caught in the so-called 60 per cent tax trap. Another 74,000 taxpayers were added to the punitive £100,000-£125,000 income bracket during the 2024/25 tax year, according to [...]
There is a way back for the Conservatives October 2, 2025 The Tories have been quiet of late, pushed to the margins of the post-summer political debate and either mocked or ignored by the other parties whose conferences have sucked up the airtime in recent weeks. But this weekend they gather in Manchester and while the event won’t command the nation’s undivided attention it is a [...]
Remove windfall taxes on North Sea oil, bosses tell Rachel Reeves October 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abolish windfall taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, top bosses have said. In a new report setting out UK businesses’ proposals for the Budget, the Chancellor has been urged to focus on cutting energy costs for firms and set out a clearer plan for the North Sea’s [...]
Tories vow to scrap net zero targets and prioritise cheap energy October 2, 2025 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has vowed to scrap legislation forcing the government to achieve net zero by 2050 promising instead to prioritise “cheap and reliable” energy if elected to government. The Climate Change Act was first passed in 2008 before being amended in 2019 under Theresa May’s government to include a legally-binding target to reach [...]
Exclusive: Peter Kyle says Employment Rights critics ‘come from certain educational backgrounds’ October 2, 2025 Business secretary Peter Kyle has dismissed critics of the Employment Rights Bill as people on an “above average income” and those who have not had an “ordinary experience in the economy”. Labour’s workers’ rights package has faced staunch opposition from CEOs as well as top business groups including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and [...]
Andrew Bailey’s stablecoin U-turn hailed as ‘positive step’ October 1, 2025 Andrew Bailey has issued a major climb down on stablecoins after previously being accused of “killing” the country’s ambitions with “prescriptive” views. The Bank of England governor – who has been branded a “dinosaur” by Reform’s Nigel Farage for archaic views on crypto assets – has now said the UK should “reap the benefits” of [...]
Manufacturing sector breakdown worsens amid ‘dearth of export work’ October 1, 2025 A breakdown in activity across the manufacturing sector has deepened as new data has shown export work coming to a halt and investment falling flat. S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for manufacturing in September showed the sector was still struggling to bounce back despite some quiet optimism in recent months. Activity in the sector [...]
Keir Starmer is dangerously deluded October 1, 2025 The prime minister may have insisted yesterday that wealth creation is “the defining mission of this government” but it certainly wasn’t the defining mission of his speech to the Labour party conference. There were roughly 7,000 words in Keir Starmer’s address to party members in Liverpool, with “business” being uttered just four times – and [...]