High street spending gets ‘much-needed boost’ but cost alert sent to shoppers April 14, 2026 High street spending in March remained robust though travel companies suffered from holidaymakers’ fears about organising a trip to the Middle East, research has suggested. Retail surveys have suggested that high street shops were boosted by shoppers’ Easter hunt for food, computers and toys last month. Research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) suggested that [...]
Starmer fears ‘untold damage’ to UK economy from Iran war April 13, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the impacts of the Iran war will be “significant” as he insisted the government’s central position was to stay out of the conflict. Starmer told MPs on Monday that the main war in Iran, which lasted over a month before a ceasefire was announced last week, had already harmed [...]
Farage fronts £2m bitcoin purchase despite price tumble April 13, 2026 Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has fronted a £2m purchase of bitcoin by the Kwasi Kwarteng-led crypto company Stack BTC despite the cryptocurrency’s price tumbling over recent months. Farage was filmed in a promotional video for the crypto reserves firm buying around £2m of Bitcoin, with the business stating that the political leader was the first [...]
Keir Starmer: Bypass law for EU single market in UK’s ‘best interest’ April 13, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour’s effort to allow the UK government to adopt new EU single market rules without parliamentary approval was in the “UK’s best interest”. Fresh legislation to be presented after May is set to allow the government to adopt EU single market rules without amendments from MPs. Parliamentarians would be able [...]
Voters tell Reeves: Cut taxes and energy costs to boost ‘poor’ UK economy April 13, 2026 British voters want Rachel Reeves to cut taxes and reduce energy costs in order to focus on growth as a majority of people felt the UK economy was “poor”, new research has shown. Polling by Freshwater Strategy for the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a free market think tank, suggested that the vast majority of [...]
Rachel Reeves’ wealth fund pumps £600m into Rolls-Royce SMR April 13, 2026 Rachel Reeves’ flagship wealth fund has announced a fresh heap of financing for Rolls-Royce SMR following its tie-up with Ed Miliband’s state-owned energy company. The National Wealth Fund has revealed a £599m financing package for Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in a bid to kick start delivery on its project with Great British Energy. The [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks tumble amid Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade April 13, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are returning from the weekend to a major blow in hopes of a ceasefire in the Middle East. After Donald Trump revealed his two-week reprieve on strikes whilst negotiations begin, those very talks now look to be hanging by a thread. Vice President JD [...]
Firms slash jobs at fastest pace this year and pay growth slows April 13, 2026 Businesses slashed jobs at the fastest pace in 2026 as employers also resisted giving staff big pay increases over March, research has suggested, exposing the Iran war’s damaging effects on all sides of the UK economy. Research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG said there was a steeper rise in the number [...]
Oil prices could race past $150 as ceasefire in ‘difficult phase’ April 11, 2026 Oil prices could shoot up beyond $150 per barrel if trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain disrupted as the US-Iran ceasefire was entering a “difficult phase”. Research company Kpler said that problems across the Strait could prompt markets to change tune and lead to oil prices jumping higher. The Brent crude oil price, [...]
AI security officials test Anthropic cyber threat as Bank of England to convene chiefs April 11, 2026 AI minister Kanishka Narayan has said that Anthropic’s new cyber model was the most powerful seen yet as finance chiefs from the Bank of England and Treasury are set to meet next week to discuss the threats posed to the financial sector. Narayan revealed that Claude Mythos, a new model that was held back from [...]