Big bank bosses on alert as tax noise gets louder under Burnham August 5, 2026 Banks have delivered booming profits for the first half of the year. In this week’s column Samuel Norman takes a look at how the calls for a tax rise on the sector will get louder under the new Prime Minister. “The saxophones are getting louder” is the internet’s new saying to depict growing anxiety. If you [...]
Luton Airport expansion set for take-off after environmental challenge dismissed August 4, 2026 London Luton Airport’s growth plan has received judicial approval after a campaign group’s legal challenge was rejected by the UK’s top court. The Supreme Court has given the plans the green light after dismissing a challenge from Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN), which had argued the decision was unlawful [...]
Gatwick expansion green-lit as court throws out activists’ appeal August 4, 2026 Work on Gatwick Airport’s second runway can get under way after the Court of Appeal kicked out a legal challenge against the expansion project. Legal appeals brought by local resident Peter Barclay and the environmental group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) against the expansion of Gatwick Airport have failed in court for the second [...]
Rupert Lowe axes pensions triple lock and pledges tax cuts in economic plan August 4, 2026 Rupert Lowe, the hard right leader of the Restore Britain party, has said he would back scrapping the triple lock pension and ordering three-year freezes on departmental budgets. Lowe, who has mainly focused on the issue of immigration since breaking from Reform UK over a year ago, published a pamphlet outlining his new party’s economic [...]
Apple gears up for fresh legal fight with government August 4, 2026 Whitehall’s pursuit of a backdoor into Apple’s encrypted data could trigger yet another transatlantic bust-up after the US tech giant launched a new legal challenge against the UK government. The tech giant has launched fresh legal action against the UK government at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which specialises in surveillance complaints, after the Home Office [...]
What are we to make of John Healey? Time will tell. August 4, 2026 Who exactly is in charge of this government’s economic policy? In a bid to find out, I’ve tasked two of our journalists to hit the phones, mooch around the bars of Whitehall and track down Westminster’s new power brokers. I’ll let you know what we find out, but he fact that the answer to this [...]
UK founders cast doubt on Burnham’s pro-business push August 4, 2026 The majority of Britain’s top scale-up founders believe business conditions will not improve under Andy Burnham as just one in 20 entrepreneurs feel the new PM backs the private sector. New research by Helm, a membership group of over 400 scale-up founders, suggested that a substantial number of its members were pessimistic about Burnham’s premiership. [...]
Reform’s Richard Tice under parliamentary investigation August 3, 2026 Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice is facing a probe from the parliamentary standards watchdog for failing to declare an interest in a debate. Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary standards commissioner, confirmed a probe was opened on the 28th July but did not share further details about the scope of the investigation. Tice claimed it relates [...]
Healey revives ‘price-gouging’ threat as cost of living options narrow August 2, 2026 Chancellor John Healey has revived threats against retailers over profiteering as his cost of living options have narrowed due to problems facing the country’s public finances. Healey warned supermarkets that they would not be able to take Britons “for a ride” as the Treasury would closely monitor “any suggestion” that shoppers were suffering from large [...]
Trump suspends strikes amid new peace hopes August 2, 2026 President Trump has said the “perimeters of a deal” have been agreed with Iran, prompting him to call off strikes in the Middle East. The US president said that Iran and Gulf region countries had “asked” the US to suspend strikes due to the workings of a new peace deal. In a Truth Social post, [...]