Doing business in Britain is too difficult, too expensive and too uncertain September 30, 2025 Business confidence is at a three-year low and productivity has not improved for 15 years. It is businesses that policymakers must turn to – and fast – to get growth back on track, writes ICAEW chief executive Alan Vallance Whatever your political leanings, we can all agree that the UK faces a challenging economic context. Weak [...]
Rachel Reeves was overshadowed by her future self September 30, 2025 The Chancellor’s speech yesterday was overshadowed by one she hasn’t yet delivered; that’ll be the Budget, on 26 November. The whole country knows that the November Budget is going to be painful, one way or another, and its inevitable constraints (in fact, just the timing of it) meant that Reeves wasn’t able to say much [...]
Excluding Taiwan from civil aviation talks is putting passengers at risk September 30, 2025 Taiwan is excluded from the UN’s air navigation agency – the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which causes delays in information sharing and heightens the risk of plane crashes. Time to stop putting politics before passengers, says Flying is an incredibly safe mode of transport – and there’s a reason for that. When things go [...]
On This Day: Britain asks the IMF for a loan September 30, 2025 49 years ago today, sterling crashed to its lowest ever point against the dollar. Denis Healey stared down his socialist opponents and asked the IMF for a loan – paving the way for Margaret Thatcher’s election victory, writes Eliot Wilson Denis Winston Healey, chancellor of the Exchequer (1974-79) and Labour’s indomitable intellectual brawler, soaked up [...]
Why isn’t London building? September 30, 2025 Affordable housing targets and well-meaning safety regulation has led developers to conclude that building in London is not worth the hassle, says Sam Griffiths You’re probably bored of reading bad news about housing in London – but figures released by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) should make us all sit up and take notice. Only [...]
Instead of a taxi tax, Reeves should fix the absurd VAT system September 29, 2025 Reeves’ tax grab on taxis highlights the absurdity of the VAT system and raises the question of whether VAT should be levied more consistently across goods and services, says Ben Ramanauskas It has been reported that Rachel Reeves will announce at the Budget that taxi journeys will be subject to VAT. This has drawn criticism [...]
London must protect our fintech lead or be left behind September 29, 2025 The UK is moving too slowly in emerging areas like stablecoins, purring London’s world-leading fintech sector at risk, says Janine Hirt London has long been a global leader in fintech, a position built on a history of innovation and a welcoming environment for startups. This success was fuelled by a pro-growth approach to policy and [...]
On this day: The Bill of Rights is set in motion September 29, 2025 On this day in 1789, the Bill of Rights was sent to the states for ratification. With the right to free speech still hotly contested 300 years later, Eliot Wilson goes back to the start.
Could Andy Burnham actually unseat Keir Starmer? September 29, 2025 Andy Burnham has made a bold threat to Keir Starmer, but could he actually unseat the Prime Minister? Eliot Wilson takes a look.
The world believes in Britain, the government must too September 29, 2025 Business leaders remain laser-focused on delivering growth, now the Chancellor must create the conditions for them to do so, says Chris Hayward As the Chancellor prepares to address the Labour Party Conference, her desk in Number 11 Downing Street is doubtless already buckling under the weight of submissions featuring friendly advice about how to shape [...]