Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham criticise pub tax raid February 12, 2026 Two prominent potential leadership challengers to Sir Keir Starmer have attacked the government’s tax regime for putting hospitality businesses, and particularly pubs, under serious pressure. Angela Rayner acknowledged that the hike to the minimum wage has put pressure on hospitality businesses, and said that the government needs to “start relieving” the sector. Starmer’s former deputy [...]
GDP: UK faces ‘most dismal decade for growth in 100 years’ February 12, 2026 The UK economy had a minor expansion in the fourth quarter of 2025 coming a touch below expectations as an expected boost from the services sector failed to come to fruition. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the economy expanded a sluggish 0.1 per cent in three months to December 2025. [...]
Reform UK’s rise: Will City law firms shift their support? February 12, 2026 Businesses, including law firms, snuggled up to Labour in 2024 but with Reform UK on the agenda, will firms shift their focus before the next election? Unlike in the US, business lobbying of British political parties and the UK government is kept somewhat behind closed doors, but it remains a powerful tool. For professional services, [...]
PM Starmer asked to back £500m Alexandra Palace darts injection February 11, 2026 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been called upon to contribute to a £500m, one-off private-public cash injection to keep darts at Alexandra Palace. The north London venue first hosted the World Darts Championship in 2007 but a move away from the venue has been touted by tournament organisers Matchroom, with the sport exploding in popularity [...]
Starmer only cares about victims ‘to save his skin’, Badenoch blasts February 11, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer faced a brutal grilling at Prime Minister’s Questions on Monday where Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of only caring about victims of sexual abuse “to save his skin”. In a fiery exchange that was highly party-political but light on policy, the Labour leader said he had “accepted responsibility and apologised for [...]
Lib Dems would scrap Treasury for ‘Department for Growth’ February 11, 2026 The Liberal Democrats have laid out plans to scrap the Treasury department if elected in favour of a ‘Department for Growth’. Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader and Treasury spokeswoman, said on Wednesday took aim at failed government economic policy and said the Treasury “does too much”. “Fiscal policy, economic policy and controlling government spending. [...]
Starmer will fail to improve living standards – but it isn’t all his fault February 11, 2026 Between the mid 1960s and the mid 2000s, the living standards of the poorest half of households doubled. Increasing by 1.9 per cent a year, it took four decades to make this leap. To emulate that progress again, starting from today, would take 137 years. This is not a state of affairs that can be [...]
Keir Starmer must find ‘more inclusive way’ to run Labour, says Andy Burnham February 10, 2026 Andy Burnham gave Sir Keir Starmer a lukewarm endorsement on Tuesday, urging the Prime Minister to lead a stronger and more united government amid continued questions about his leadership. The Mayor of Greater Manchester called for stability, but argued that this could only be secured through “a more inclusive way of running the party”. “We [...]
Law Society slams Labour’s ‘crude’ stealth tax on legal clients February 10, 2026 The Law Society issued a blistering response to the government’s proposal to take the interest law firms earn on money sitting in their client accounts, branding it a “fundamentally flawed” sector-specific tax that threatens the stability of the wider UK legal economy. Last month, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on a proposal to [...]
Barclays boss calls for political ‘stability’ as banker’s pay packet swells to £15m February 10, 2026 The boss of British banking giant Barclays has called for “stability” across the political landscape as the Labour government’s future faces uncertainty. CS Venkatakrishnan, the bank’s chief executive who is known as Venkat, faced questions on the turmoil in Number 10 after Barclays published its full-year earnings report. “From the point of view of businesses [...]