Make the OBR boring again November 21, 2025 The OBR should be independent, trusted and uncontroversial – so it needs a rules-based framework in which to operate, otherwise it will continue to come under attack, says David Aikman The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is preparing to cut its estimate of trend productivity growth. On the face of it, this seems sensible. Productivity [...]
Britain needs a Budget for tax certainty November 21, 2025 | City Talk The upcoming Budget should move beyond specific tax adjustments to adopt a broader, more principled reform that aligns with the long-term Industrial Strategy and aims to create a more stable, predictable tax system, says Chris Sanger Much of the speculation surrounding the contents of the Chancellor’s red box on 26 November remains firmly fixed on [...]
Britain is a country becoming hostile to talent, enterprise and wealth November 20, 2025 Britain’s brain drain was hiding in plain sight, now new emigration data proves it. We have engineered an economy where high earners are taxed punitively while low earners are propped up, says Tom Harwood We saw it all around us. Friends moving abroad. Colleagues relocating. Dubai, Australia, America calling. This modern phenomenon was there for [...]
Rachel Reeves must break this manifesto pledge November 20, 2025 Britain is stuck in a debt doom loop. Rachel Reeves must break a manifesto pledge to get us out of it, writes Ticiana Alencar.
The Capitalist: The politicians who almost made it onto I’m a Celebrity November 20, 2025 Angela Rayner? Ed Balls? Michael Gove? We spill the beans on who almost made it into the I'm a Celebrity jungle in this week's The Capitalist.
Only a new leader can save Labour now November 20, 2025 Starmer and Reeves have a majority but not a mandate and are too weak to deliver anything. Only a new leader can give the markets and the OBR confidence that they have an actual plan, says Helen Thomas As Budget preparation ploughs into the final furlong, the next field is already lining up on the [...]
Is Budget speculation a bad thing? November 20, 2025 Testing measures before the big day can be helpful, but the upcoming Budget has been a feeding frenzy, making it impossible to distinguish fan fiction from genuine policy, says Tim Sarson The Autumn Budget speculation season has become rather a circus. I thought last year was unusually long and noisy but 2025 takes things to [...]
Unpopular opinion: Banks are taxed enough already November 20, 2025 Is Angela Rayner influencing the Budget from beyond the political grave? The former deputy PM and housing secretary was famously in favour of increasing the additional tax burden faced by banks. Ahead of this year’s Spring Statement, Rayner was riding high. With a confidence that turned out to be misplaced, she inserted herself into debates [...]
Our savings are lazy – the Budget must put them to work November 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves should cut the cash ISA limit and redirect savings into British equities, says Steven Fine The old saying in finance is that “money never sleeps”: but a lot of ours is lazy. Today Britain sits on nearly a trillion pounds of ISA savings, yet too little is being put to work in our [...]
In Ponzi scheme Britain, parenthood is a luxury November 20, 2025 The promise that if you work hard, you will be able to own a home and raise a family is breaking down in real time, says new dad Simon Clarke I am about to do something that an uncomfortable number of British men cannot: become a Dad again. A little boy, since you ask. It [...]