‘Patronising gibberish’ – Top Tory slams Labour’s ‘masculine’ job ad crackdown March 5, 2026 Labour has been criticised for issuing new guidance that warns employers against using ‘masculine’ language in job descriptions. The Office for Equality and Opportunity’s new guidance, published on Wednesday, suggests that businesses swap ‘aggressive character traits’ for more neutral, behaviour-based criteria. The document urges businesses to use neutral language and titles, including “avoid terms associated [...]
Greg Jackson urges Labour to exploit North Sea oil as UK ‘stares down barrel’ of energy price shock March 5, 2026 Octopus founder and government adviser Greg Jackson has urged Labour to “use what’s available” in the North Sea and rethink its key net zero policies. Jackson said the county was “staring down the barrel” of an energy price shock in light of the conflict in the Middle East. The Octopus chief executive who is also [...]
Watch: War brings Reeves’ failures into focus March 5, 2026 War in the Middle East rendered the Chancellor’s Spring Statement “irrelevant” according to City analysts as the economic impacts of the Iran conflict become frighteningly clear. Rachel Reeves made just a passing mention of the Iran war when she addressed MPs on Tuesday, referring briefly to global instability while trying to paint a picture of [...]
Defence boosts Serco amid asylum hotel decline March 5, 2026 Government defence contracts helped Serco deliver a higher profit in 2025 despite a drop in the use of migrant hotels, once a key revenue stream for the London-listed company. Serco, an outsourcing company that covers government work on everything from migrant hotels to waste collection, was boosted by higher state expenditure both in the UK [...]
Reeves is outrageously complacent on economic growth March 5, 2026 The dust has settled on the Chancellor’s pointless Spring Statement and, if anything, it looks even worse in the rear-view mirror than it did in real time. Yesterday, top think-tanks and policy wonks chewed over the claims made by Rachel Reeves in her panglossian speech to MPs, and they don’t appear to be overly impressed. [...]
Bank of England could raise interest rates over Iran energy price shock March 4, 2026 The Bank of England could raise interest rates this year if energy prices fail to return to levels seen before the start of America’s war with Iran, leading economists have warned. Analysts across the City and at Westminster think tanks have suggested that higher inflation caused by disruption in oil and gas movements across the [...]
US warns 15 per cent tariffs to come this week March 4, 2026 US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has warned that the administration’s plans for a higher universal 15 per cent tariff could come into effect this week. Bessent said the new baseline tariff rate would come in “likely some time this week” in an interview on Wednesday. The US implemented its 10 per cent tariff rate last [...]
Starmer refuses to reveal date of defence investment plan March 4, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer hit back at criticism the UK government was not spending enough on defence amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East putting RAF jets and British nationals at risk. The Prime Minister declined to reveal when the much-anticipated defence investment plan would be published as Kemi Badenoch centred her attacks on the [...]
Labour MP’s partner among three arrested in China spy probe March 4, 2026 Three men, including a partner of a Labour MP, have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The Metropolitan Police revealed on Wednesday that the men, aged 39, 43 and 68, were arrested in London and Wales as part of a counter-terrorism policing investigation under the National Security Act. One of those arrested, David [...]
UK economy held back by ‘rationing’ of energy, land and capital March 4, 2026 The government must focus on “ending the rationing” of the UK’s energy, land and capital if it wants to reinvigorate the economy, according to a leading City analyst. In a research note published this morning, Simon French, head of research at Panmure Liberum, argued that policies from successive governments had effectively created a rationing system [...]