Top foreign policy analyst and Tory councillor jumps ship to Reform November 19, 2025 Reform UK has lured a leading security and foreign policy analyst from the Conservatives to provide advice to the party and its leader, Nigel Farage, in what appears to be Reform’s latest move aimed at professionalising party operations. Dr Alan Mendoza, who heads up the Henry Jackson Society, a trans-Atlantic foreign affairs and security think [...]
Inflation stays high in pre-Budget warning to Reeves November 19, 2025 Inflation hit 3.6 per cent in the year to October, it has been revealed, in the last set of prices data Chancellor Rachel Reeves will see before a crucial Budget focused on curbing the cost of living. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said inflation cooled slightly from last month’s figure of 3.8 per cent, [...]
Wimbledon set to get exemption from anti-ticket touting law for debentures November 19, 2025 Wimbledon chiefs are set to receive an exemption from legislation to be introduced in next year’s King’s Speech that would ban the resale of tickets above face value for sport and music events. The proposed new laws – designed to stamp out touting – would have a significant impact on the sale of debentures by [...]
Markets will determine whether Reeves has any credibility left November 19, 2025 It’s a regrettable reality that a politician – or an entire government – can limp on for months or even years after losing credibility in the eyes of voters. In contrast, when markets think the credibility is gone the consequences can be much more immediate. Just ask Liz Truss. One week from today, the Chancellor’s [...]
Brain drain latest: Brits quitting UK three times faster than thought November 18, 2025 Fears that the UK is in the grips of a ‘brain drain’ escalated on Tuesday after fresh data revealed that than three times as many British nationals left the UK last year than officials previously thought. According to revisions made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 257,000 Britons left the UK in 2024, over [...]
Reform and Tories battle over the Budget with spending cuts calls November 18, 2025 Opposition parties Reform UK and the Conservatives are intensifying pressure on Labour ahead of the Budget with calls for dramatic spending cuts to fix public finances. In separate press conferences on Tuesday, leaders Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch called for deep cuts to government expenditure to balance the books. Their renewed attacks on the government [...]
Prime Ministers deserve a nicer house and we deserve better government November 18, 2025 The nerve centre of the British state, 10 Downing Street, is fantastically ill-suited to the needs of a modern Prime Minister and to the interests of the country. An excellent piece by Politico last week lifted the lid on what it’s actually like to work in this rather dilapidated Georgian townhouse, with one former No [...]
‘Shenanigans’: Did the OBR save Reeves from hiking income taxes at the Budget? November 18, 2025 For weeks, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had been engaged in an extraordinary communications exercise of expectation management, leading Brits to believe that income tax was about to hiked for the first time in 50 years. In an unusual press conference earlier this month, she told journalists that everyone would have to contribute to the Labour government’s [...]
Autumn Budget 2025: Exercise can give Reeves £20bn boost, says Sport England November 18, 2025 Sport England has highlighted the wider value of investment designed to get more people exercising ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing her Budget next week. The public body says that supporting exercise initiatives for the poor, disabled and ethnic minorities – among the last active groups – could provide around £20bn in healthcare savings, illness [...]
Fresh Labour revolt brews over asylum system tightening November 17, 2025 A growing number of Labour backbenchers are preparing to revolt against the government’s proposed tightening on the UK asylum system. In another fiery showdown between Keir Starmer’s government and emboldened backbenchers, home secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to spark tensions across Westminster with new announcements aimed at making the UK less attractive to people crossing [...]