UK state growing at faster pace than France after spending splurge and tax hikes October 14, 2026 The size of the British state is growing by a larger amount than any other G7 nation apart from Germany since the pandemic in 2020, figures on government spending from the International Monetary Fund have shown. The IMF’s latest report on countries’ fiscal outlook shows that UK government spending is set to rise by 5.2 [...]
The urgent case for massive welfare reform is now impossible to ignore October 14, 2026 By accident or design, Britain is facing a moment of reckoning when it comes to welfare spending. The issue serves as a major fault line in Westminster, with the Tories pledging to slash the benefits bill while Andy Burnham vows there will be “no crude cuts” to the hundreds of billions of pounds spent across [...]
Exclusive: Healey looks to lower business costs of hiring young people October 14, 2026 Chancellor John Healey is drawing up measures to slash the cost of hiring under-25-year-olds at the Budget, City AM understands, as the government looks to tackle the crisis of youth unemployment and ease pressures facing businesses. A move to tackle the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) by reducing hiring [...]
Plus500’s super-app ambitions risk re-telling a familiar London story October 14, 2026 Plus500 laid out plans for a super-app across the Atlantic, in this week’s column Samuel Norman looks at how it could frame their future. Also on the agenda, Healey continues pre-Budget summits and does anyone still care about the digital pound? Is a London-listed fintech turning to the US for its monumental ‘super-app’ a point [...]
Dimon warns of risks ‘under the surface’ as JP Morgan earnings miss October 13, 2026 JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has warned of a broad set of economic risks “under the surface” as the Wall Street bank’s earnings missed expectations in the third quarter. The US banking giant reported $50.9bn (£38.4bn) in revenue for its latest three month period, up eight per cent year-on-year. But this undershot the $51.2bn forecast [...]
Motor finance legal battle set for February 2027 October 13, 2026 The City watchdog has confirmed that the legal battle over its motor finance redress scheme will take place early next year following widespread backlash against its multi-billion-pound programme. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will face challenges from three lenders, Volkswagen Financial Services, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, and Crédit Agricole Auto Finance, as well as the advocacy [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 loses early gains as oil prices stay high October 13, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 live blog. The UK’s blue-chip index made strong gains on Monday morning, jumping more than 0.9 per cent soon after the market open. This follows Tuesday’s strong showing, when the index gained nearly one per cent. In a busy morning the corporate results, Premier Inn owner Whitbread hit [...]
‘Economic anaesthetic’ of welfare spending dwarfed capital investment by £1.1 trillion October 12, 2026 Spending on benefits for working-age people dwarfed investment in key infrastructure such as schools and trains by £1.1 trillion between 2006 and 2025, new research has found. The Centre for Social Justice said that spending on disability support and other forms of welfare racked up to £1.1 trillion more than capital expenditure in the same [...]
We should be AI optimists, says Bank of England deputy October 12, 2026 A top Bank of England official has called for optimism around artificial intelligence and said leveraging the tech is the “best pathway” to securing economic growth. Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the central bank, said the UK needs to “think ahead” on the future use cases of AI for “how we might [...]
‘New Keynesian’ economists win Nobel prize October 12, 2026 Two American economists who research price stabilisation across global economies have won the Nobel prize for economics. Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford were the joint winners of the prestigious award officially called “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel”. Hall and Woodford’s research on forecasting has influenced policymakers when [...]