Reeves faces ‘Groundhog Day’ as Budget tax hikes loom October 16, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves risks having to hike taxes ever higher in forthcoming budgets if she leaves herself with £9.9bn in headroom, a joint report by Barclays and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned. The research has suggested that spending cuts would send a “crucial” signal to the bond markets that the government had [...]
We have to get serious about major spending cuts October 16, 2025 Speculation over the contents of next month’s Budget has reached fever pitch, and it’s only going to ramp up from here. This is not idle curiosity; with businesses still adapting to the confidence-sapping and job-smothering fallout from last year’s Budget, there is now a genuine fear that what remains of our economic resilience could be [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves must focus on growth, not ‘gimmicks’ October 16, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman sits down with top industry names for a Budget Briefing. This week, the chief executive of founders club Helm calls for bold innovation policies took take centre stage. Chancellor Rachel Reeves should use her second Autumn Budget to make bolder swings for the UK’s innovation economy [...]
Downing Street refuses to rule out breaking Labour tax pledges October 15, 2025 Downing Street has refused to rule out breaking Labour manifesto tax pledges not to raise income tax, national insurance for workers or VAT, in a further indication that the government could look to raise revenue through one of the three big taxes. The Labour Party vowed not to raise national insurance, VAT or income tax [...]
UK banks tax rate rises as fears of a budget raid spike October 15, 2025 The tax rate on the UK banking sector rose in the last financial year as the industry braces for a potential hike to its financial burden in the Autumn Budget. A fresh study from banking industry body UK Finance and PwC revealed London lender’s total tax rate rose 0.6 per cent to 46.4 per cent [...]
Rachel Reeves: We are looking at tax hikes October 15, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has revealed the government is considering making tax hikes at this year’s Budget, the first time she has made the admission in public. In an interview with Sky News, Reeves admitted that the government was considering raising tax and cutting spending to fill a fiscal hole. The Chancellor said she would “always [...]
Reeves to limit legal challenges to key infrastructure projects October 15, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has ordered courts to open hearings on judicial review processes which could threaten to block critical infrastructure projects within four months of an application being made as part of a pre-Budget rush to introduce growth-inducing reforms. As part of a new set of planning-related proposals on Wednesday, the High Court will have [...]
Self-inflicted damage makes mockery of government growth pledge October 15, 2025 Back in June, before Donald Trump orchestrated a tentative peace in the Middle East, he reacted with fury to Israel and Iran’s escalating exchange of missile and drone attacks, telling reporters “they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing.” Sometimes undiplomatic language has its place, even in high-stakes diplomacy. I was reminded of this approach [...]
Employers set to pay more to hire migrants as immigration rules tightened October 14, 2025 Employers will have to pay higher fees to hire skilled migrant workers as part of home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s moves to strengthen immigration rules. Under new rules set to be introduced in parliament on Tuesday, migrant workers will have to pass A-level English language standard tests in order to live in the UK while employers [...]
Bank of England’s Taylor: High rates could push UK into recession October 14, 2025 The UK risks heading into a recession that will be “difficult to contain” if interest rates are kept on hold into next year, a Bank of England rate-setter has said in a speech that has further exposed widening splits between policymakers over the best path for borrowing costs. In a set of dovish comments made [...]