Inheritance tax changes are showing family businesses the door March 25, 2026 From 6 April inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business assets is being slashed. The very businesses that benefit the UK’s economy are the ones that are most exposed to these IHT changes, says Mark Goddard For more than three decades, business relief on inheritance tax has acted as the safety valve which allows entrepreneurs [...]
Has YouGov been barraged by Farage? March 25, 2026 Nigel Farage has never been shy in locking horns with big business. Just ask Dame Alison Rose, whose stint at Natwest came to a sharp halt after a row with Farage over a debanking. The British banker resigned after Natwest admitted to “serious failings” in closing the Reform UK leader’s account at its high-net-worth subsidiary [...]
NAO: The government’s new Financial Transaction Control Framework needs strengthening March 24, 2026 The National Audit Office’s new report assesses whether the government’s new Financial Transaction Control Framework offers value for money to the taxpayer, says Rachel Fenn The government plans to increasingly use financial transactions (FTs) – such as loans to businesses or equity investments – to pursue its policy goals. As at March 2024, the government’s [...]
Regulation isn’t cost-free and not every problem can be fixed with a new rule March 24, 2026 Politicians all too often reach for the regulation lever because “something must be done” – it could be costing businesses £70bn a year, says Cory Berman As of this September, all new building applications over 18 metres must include a second staircase. The rule was introduced after the horrific Grenfell Tower tragedy, to improve building [...]
UK must learn lessons from this crisis – starting with energy policy March 24, 2026 Has the US brought Iran to heel? Or has Iran discovered it has the upper hand? These are urgent questions and the world waits with bated breath for clear answers. Trump claims Iran approached the US, seeking a deal to end the war, and while the Iranians deny this it seems likely that contact has [...]
Advertising Week Europe boss: humans still run the show in the age of AI March 24, 2026 As Advertising Week Europe kicks off, the conversation isn’t about replacing human talent, but about recalibration, says Ruth Mortimer We’ve all read the headlines, the hyperbolic predictions and the confident declarations that everything is about to change. Apparently artificial intelligence is going to change each and every one of our jobs and lives immediately. But [...]
The oil crisis isn’t just financial, it’s physical March 24, 2026 Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz isn’t just an economic shock, it’s harming the physical infrastructure that underpins global markets, says Helen Thomas Five years ago this week, the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the world’s key waterways for six days. Oil prices jumped six per cent as roughly [...]
Britain risks regulating itself into irrelevance on digital assets March 23, 2026 The contrast between approaches to regulating digital assets in the US and the UK is becoming increasingly hard to ignore, says Lord Ranger Before travelling to Washington last week, I argued that the future of digital finance will be defined by those who move from intent to execution – and what I found there confirmed [...]
On This Day : the birth of ‘Mr Five Per Cent’ Calouste Gulbenkian March 23, 2026 Today in 1869, the man who would go on to shape global oil markets was born in Turkey, writes Eliot Wilson Conflict in the Persian Gulf continues to seethe, threatening a global energy crisis. The Middle East is so synonymous with oil that it is easy to think the world was always this way, that [...]
Lady Mayor: The City must make East End kids like me feel like they belong March 23, 2026 Plenty of young people can see the City skyline from their classroom window, yet still feel like they don't belong. I want to change that.