Retail sales beat expectations as Brits keep shopping March 28, 2025 Retail sales volumes beat expectations in February as British shoppers seemed to loosen their spending habits, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail sales rose one per cent month-on-month after rising 1.4 per cent in January. Markets had expected a decline of 0.3 per cent. Annual retail sales growth came in at 2.2 [...]
Reeves ‘lost gamble’ and is likely to raise taxes, IFS claims March 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “likely” to raise taxes at this year’s Autumn Budget, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has warned, as he claimed an extension to income tax thresholds would make for the “easiest political win”. Reeves’ announced her £40bn tax raid at the last Autumn Budget in October. The bulk of [...]
Week in Business: Trump’s tariffs add insult to injury after Spring Statement March 27, 2025 City AM Editor Christian May casts his eye over the Chancellor's Spring Statement and asks whether Donald Trump has just derailed her agenda.
MPC member: Trump tariffs won’t push UK inflation higher March 27, 2025 Interest rate-setter Swati Dhingra has suggested that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlikely to move UK inflation measures despite taking a toll on growth. The Bank of England held its interest rates at 4.5 per cent last week. External member Dhingra voted alone in favour of a cut in an 8-1 decision. Speaking at [...]
The Spring Statement takes us back to square one March 27, 2025 It might not have been a Budget, but the Chancellor may well wish that it had been. Constrained by her fiscal rules and her own insistence that yesterday’s statement would not constitute a major event, Rachel Reeves was left shuffling the few cards she held in search of a better hand. The search was in [...]
Spring Statement 2025: ‘Very small’ headroom risks getting erased again, OBR warns March 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves faces the prospect of her newly-restored fiscal headroom being wiped out again ahead of the Autumn budget, raising the spectre of fresh take hikes in the future as she battles sluggish growth and economic headwinds. The Chancellor had previously left herself £9.9bn of headroom but the OBR calculated the UK was in fact [...]
Spring Statement 2025: OBR slashes growth forecast March 26, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has slashed its growth forecast in half to one per cent as Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she was “not happy” about the revised figures. Reeves has insisted that high growth is key to Labour’s mission in government, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously suggested that it is aiming for a rate [...]
Mid-sized firms ‘considering leaving UK’ as pressure on Reeves heats up March 26, 2025 Around a third of mid-sized businesses are considering leaving the UK in the next two years, a new survey has suggested, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces intense pressure to make business-friendly announcements at the Spring Statement. The Treasury is set to unlock fresh funding for the construction sector with up to £600m to be spent [...]
UK inflation undershoots expectations in February March 26, 2025 Inflation hit 2.8 per cent in the year to February, pointing to a fragile UK economy as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Spring Statement this afternoon. The Bank of England last week held interest rates at 4.5 per cent as inflation has remained high amid escalating trade tensions and incoming tax rises. Now [...]
If the world really has changed, Chancellor, then drop your tax hikes March 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves has one of the most demanding, high profile and exhausting jobs in the country, and so – at the very least – we should forgive her for taking some freebie tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert. She’s had very few good weeks since entering office and the least she deserves is a good [...]