Is Brexit really to blame for the Chancellor’s growth headache? October 23, 2025 As the government prepares the public psyche for substantial tax hikes at next month’s Budget, the Chancellor has taken a Brexit-shaped risk. Keir Starmer’s government has largely opted for caution over talking about relations with the European Union. The Prime Minister has insisted that re-opening the Brexit debate would bring only “turmoil” but he also [...]
Lloyds profit slides 36 per cent after hiking motor finance provisions October 23, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group recorded a major hit to profit in the third quarter after the group was forced to nearly-double its provisions for the motor finance scandal. The bank posted a third-quarter profit before tax of £1.2bn, falling 36 per cent from the £1.8bn recorded in 2024. For the year-to-date the FTSE 100 titan has [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves told avoid ‘pick and mix’ tax grabs October 23, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman sits down with top industry names for a Budget Briefing. This week, the managing director of TheCityUK warns Reeves not to patch up the tax tire just for it to deflate once more. The Chancellor has touted financial and professional services for their role “at the [...]
Inflation stays hot as UK’s economic woes deepen October 22, 2025 Inflation in the year to September remained sticky, new figures have shown, in further evidence that the UK’s economic woes have deepened and hit Brits harder than those in other countries. September was the third consecutive month that inflation hit 3.8 per cent, nearly double the Bank of England’s two per cent target. It came [...]
The axe will have to fall on Britain’s runaway public spending October 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves likes to insist that she will “never play fast and loose with the public finances.” It’s a phrase she deploys quite often, not least when it looks as if the bond market could do with a bit of reassurance, and it means that she won’t breach her “cast iron” fiscal rules. Adherence to [...]
Up to £115bn government spending cuts ‘staring us in the face’ October 22, 2025 Around £115bn in cuts to government spending each year are “staring us in the face”, according to a new report, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces increasing pressure to regain control of the public finances. In a paper published by the think tank Policy Exchange, the Chancellor has been warned to prevent a “twin-pronged fiscal crisis” [...]
Bank of England: Global crisis ‘alarm bells’ in private credit October 21, 2025 The Governor of the Bank of England has warned of “alarm bells” in the private credit market as he cautioned of consequences parallel to the 2008 global financial crisis. Andrew Bailey told lawmakers on Tuesday the collapse of US car parts maker First Brands and auto-dealership Tricolor could be “the canary in the coalmine” as [...]
The top one per cent account for a third of tax revenue October 21, 2025 The top one per cent of taxpayers account for around a third of all income tax and capital gains tax paid in 2023-24, it has been revealed. According to HMRC, the top 500,000 taxpayers contributed £93.8bn last year, which represented 33 per cent of the total raised. The top 100,000 paid £54.9bn and covered a [...]
UK government borrowing soars in September to highest in five years October 21, 2025 UK government borrowing soared north of £20bn in September, official data has revealed, in another blow for Rachel Reeves as she gears up for a painful tax-raising Budget next month. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said government borrowing over the month was the highest seen for five years and an increase of £1.6bn compared [...]
FCA’s diversity requirements go ‘far beyond remit’, report warns October 21, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other public sector diversity initiatives go “far beyond” remits set by legal requirements, a report has warned, prompting Reform UK to vow to reset systems to reward “talent and merit alone”. Analysis in a paper by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has suggested that diversity policies advanced by [...]