Budget Day: The good, the bad and the ugly November 26, 2025 It seems as if we’ve been speculating about the contents of today’s Budget since the moment Rachel Reeves sat down after delivering her first one, just over a year ago. Since then, unemployment has risen (every month) and growth rates have slumped quarter-to-quarter from 0.7 per cent to 0.3 per cent to 0.1 per cent. [...]
Robert Jenrick leads pushback against David Lammy’s plans to scrap jury trials November 25, 2025 The justice secretary is facing accusations of hypocrisy over his proposed scrapping of jury trials, after his Tory opposite number Robert Jenrick said it was a system David Lammy once ‘proudly defended’ before coming to power. Jenrick stated, “Now [Lammy is] in office, he’s getting rid of them in virtually every case. “Scrapping this pillar [...]
Business chiefs: Employment will be hit by minimum wage hike November 25, 2025 Business chiefs have criticised Rachel Reeves’ decision to hike the national living wage by more than 4 per cent for most British workers at the Budget. In a final announcement before unveiling the full set of fiscal measures, the Chancellor said she would back the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations to raise the minimum wage to [...]
Reeves plans stamp duty holiday in Budget to boost London listings November 25, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a stamp duty holiday for new listings on the London Stock Exchange in Wednesday’s Budget as the government ramps up efforts to revive the index. The move will wipe out the 0.5 per cent stamp duty tax investors are forced to pay upon buying shares that are newly [...]
Labour MP warns Budget could force founders out of UK November 25, 2025 A Labour backbencher has joined industry leaders and a left-leaning pressure group in warning that the Budget could kill the UK’s aspirations of building a competitor to Silicon Valley and force more firms to look for investment outside of the country. In an open letter to Rachel Reeves, Sarah Edwards, a Labour MP who sits [...]
Labour to hold fire on ‘fish disco’ nuclear power reform due to ‘legal advice’ November 25, 2025 The Labour government is set to hold fire on pushing through sweeping reforms to nuclear energy due to a legal adviser’s concerns over the “UK’s environmental, trade and human rights obligations”, it has been reported. The Innovate UK member John Fingleton published a damning report on red tape blocking the expansion of the country’s nuclear [...]
David Lammy proposing to scrap some jury trials to tackle backlog November 25, 2025 As the criminal justice system continues to crumble, the justice secretary David Lammy is reportedly proposing a major shake-up that would scrap some jury trials. Currently, all criminal trials are heard in front of a jury that decides on the accused’s fate; however, Lammy’s proposal will see jury trials only for murder, rape or manslaughter [...]
BCC boss: Enough taxes. The Budget must tell a positive story November 25, 2025 Last autumn, the British Chambers of Commerce and its members were left shell-shocked when a party that promised to be the most ‘pro-business in history’ used its maiden Budget to deliver a succession of hammer blows to the private sector. Having shouldered the burden last year, boss Shevaun Haviland wants this year’s instalment to paint [...]
There’s nothing new in Zack Polanski’s fantasy economics November 25, 2025 Let’s go for a lyrical opening to this column: “The newspapers shout a new style is growing, but I don’t know if it’s coming or going, there is fashion, there is fad, some is good, some is bad, and the joke – rather sad – that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating.” [...]
Ex-OBR chiefs: Reeves was warned about productivity downgrade November 25, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves was warned about costly productivity downgrades and should have left a bigger fiscal headroom at the Spring Statement, former Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) officials have said. Speaking to City AM, a number of leading economists raised questions around Reeves’ statements suggesting an OBR review of productivity trend forecasts has forced her [...]