Grangemouth: Green future for oil refinery needs £3.5bn, report finds March 19, 2025 Delivering a green future for the Grangemouth oil refinery will require around £3.5bn in private investment, a report has found. The long-awaited Project Willow study, which itself cost £1.5m, sets out nine options for the future of the industrial cluster in central Scotland. Hundreds of jobs are set to be lost this year when the [...]
PMQs: Starmer won’t repeat pledge to unfreeze income tax thresholds March 19, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “plotting stealth taxes” after he failed to repeat Rachel Reeves’ pledge to unfreeze income tax thresholds. The Prime Minister was pushed on his economic plans ahead of next week’s spring statement – which Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded an “emergency budget”. During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, [...]
Don’t ask business to ‘shoulder more burden’, CBI chief urges March 19, 2025 The government should not “ask businesses to shoulder any more of a burden”, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) chief has warned in the wake of the welfare cuts. Work and pensions secretary Lilz Kendall announced on Tuesday a raft of welfare measures she said will help bring more working age people back into jobs. [...]
Welfare reforms: What are the politics of Labour’s benefits changes? March 19, 2025 Over the past few weeks, it’s been hard to avoid reports of the government preparing the ground for a string of changes to the UK’s welfare system. Call it kite flying, pitch rolling, or testing the waters, when work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall got to her feet in the House of Commons on Tuesday, [...]
Labour MPs warned ‘perfect storm’ of retail costs could benefit Reform UK March 19, 2025 Labour MPs are being warned a “perfect storm” of costs facing the retail sector could see seats lost to Reform UK. New analysis from the Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA) has revealed Labour holds 24 of the UK’s 30 constituencies with the highest numbers of voters working in retail, according to an Electoral Calculus survey in [...]
Liz Kendall unveils welfare reform package aimed at saving £5bn by 2030 March 18, 2025 Liz Kendall has unveiled a major package of reforms to the UK’s welfare system with the aim of saving the government £5bn by 2030.
Kemi Badenoch: Tories to look at ‘achievable solutions’ for clean energy March 18, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has said net zero is “impossible” for Britain to achieve by 2050 and that her party will look at “achievable solutions”. The Conservative Party leader outlined her plans for the Tories to renew their policy programme at a speech in London, as she set out her stall ahead of the May local elections. [...]
PM’s growth rhetoric does not match reality March 18, 2025 Stirring words from the Prime Minister in today’s City AM, with Keir Starmer vowing to unleash the “animal spirits” of the private sector. He knows his audience, I’ll give him that; City AM readers know better than anyone just how important businesses large and small are to the country’s prosperity. It wasn’t very long ago [...]
Jonathan Reynolds in Washington for first in-person trade talks March 18, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds is in Washington DC for the first in-person trade talks under President Donald Trump’s administration. The business and trade secretary is in the US capital today for talks which officials said were aimed at strengthening UK-US ties and to discuss a wider economic deal. Reynolds will meet US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and [...]
Kemi Badenoch: Net Zero by 2050 is “impossible” March 18, 2025 Kemi Badenoch is set to launch a party “policy renewal” process starting with net zero and energy as she is expected to claim net zero by 2050 is “impossible”. The Conservative leader will say her party would “confront the real problems” but that she is not making a “moral judgement” on net zero or debating [...]