Reeves’ £25bn tax grab to become ‘toxic reality’ for British business, firms suggest April 4, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £25bn tax grab from employers will become a “toxic reality” for British businesses from Sunday as higher costs risk stunting firms’ income, one of the UK’s largest industry bodies has warned. Reeves’ has pinned her hopes for improving the state of public finances on growing the UK economy but more firms have [...]
How will Trump’s tariffs impact the UK economy? April 3, 2025 The US president holds up a sandwich board in the Rose Garden. On it is a list of countries. Next to each country are two columns: one for “tariffs charged to the USA” and one for “USA Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs”. The leader of the free world is cooking up a storm. “Our country has been [...]
Fear over Labour plans to allow firms to extract cash from pension schemes April 3, 2025 The vast majority of pension scheme members are “afraid” of government plans that would allow firms to take cash from defined benefit (DB) schemes for investment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves signalled earlier this year that “trapped surplus funds” in DB pension schemes would be unleashed for firms to invest. But a [...]
Week in Business: Will Donald Trump’s trade war blow up the UK economy? April 3, 2025 Liberation Day, Independence Day, the greatest day in American history? Or the end of the global economic order and the start of a dangerous new world? In the end it was classic Trump, sometimes reading from an autocue as if for the first time, sometimes veering off script in erratic directions, calling out supporters in [...]
Trump tariffs to drag global growth down by trillions of dollars April 3, 2025 Donald Trump’s tariffs is set to drag the world economy down by trillions of dollars, according to forecasts by leading economists. The International Monetary Fund estimates the current global economy is worth more than $115 trillion and it has been predicted to grow by around three per cent, per various forecasts. But since Trump announced [...]
UK services and composite PMIs underwhelm economists April 3, 2025 The UK service sector saw a “modest expansion” in March but economists overestimated S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) readings for the month. S&P Global’s latest composite PMI reading, which takes an average of manufacturing and services output for the month, came in at 51.5. The figure points to a slight expansion in UK output [...]
Rachel Reeves: UK will not ‘rush into action’ after Trump’s tariffs speech April 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated that the UK is unlikely to respond quickly to President Trump should he impose damaging tariffs on goods coming from Britain. In a hearing at the Treasury Committee on Wednesday, Reeves said the UK would not “rush into action to get a quick headline”. “The prize on offer is a [...]
Trump’s tariffs could crush UK growth to zero April 2, 2025 US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could knock UK growth down to zero next year, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). The prospect of low or zero growth would deal a catastrophic blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans for further investment in public services as estimates by NIESR suggest that a [...]
Wage growth falling for low-paid workers despite minimum wage hike April 2, 2025 Wage increases among low-paid workers are at their lowest level in three years, according to the jobs website Indeed, as economists fear high inflation will erode incomes. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Tuesday that an increase to the national minimum wage would mean that low-paid workers could help drive growth across the UK. But [...]
Trump’s car tariffs to put 25,000 UK jobs at risk, IPPR say April 2, 2025 President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on all car imports to the US could destroy thousands of UK jobs, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have suggested. The think tank estimates that around 25,000 jobs will come under threat as a result of Trump’s tariffs due to come into effect on Wednesday. The [...]