Up to £115bn government spending cuts ‘staring us in the face’ October 22, 2025 Around £115bn in cuts to government spending each year are “staring us in the face”, according to a new report, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces increasing pressure to regain control of the public finances. In a paper published by the think tank Policy Exchange, the Chancellor has been warned to prevent a “twin-pronged fiscal crisis” [...]
Rachel Reeves plans another NIC tax raid at November Budget October 21, 2025 Rachel Reeves is gearing up for another billion-pound raid on National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as the Chancellor finds ways to plug a huge fiscal black hole in November’s Budget. Reeves is understood to be drawing up plans to extend NICs taxes to include limited liability partnerships or LLPs, to whom the tax does not currently [...]
Lloyds boss: Motor finance redress wipes 20-year profit off industry October 21, 2025 The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has warned the financial watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme could knock two decades of profitability off the car finance industry. Charlie Nunn, the bank’s chief, has doubled down on the lender’s previous warning shots, adding he didn’t think the scheme was “proportionate”. The FTSE 100 titan has pulled no [...]
Playtech shares tumble after firm becomes embroiled in US lawsuit October 21, 2025 Shares in Playtech tumbled on Tuesday after it emerged the gambling software firm had become embroiled in a US defamation lawsuit. The FTSE 250 firm has been named as the company behind a 2021 investigative report which made a string of misconduct allegations against its Swedish rival, Evolution. Playtech is understood to have commissioned Israeli [...]
Lifetime ISA hands £1bn boost to Treasury coffers amid debate over purpose October 21, 2025 The Lifetime ISA has provided the Treasury with a significant fiscal boost each year since 2021, despite the government continuing to question whether it is ultimately fit for purpose. According to research from CBI Economics, commissioned by Moneybox, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) has delivered a net boost of £1bn to date for the government since [...]
Calls for Reeves to scrap customs ‘loophole’ used by Shein in budget October 21, 2025 Retailers would benefit if the UK scrapped or reduced import relief for low-value goods in the upcoming budget, according to experts. There has been much speculation that the Chancellor will scrap the low-value import VAT relief that lets goods under £135 enter the UK duty-free (parcels above that value can incur customs duties of up [...]
FCA to take control of anti-money laundering supervision of professional service firms in major reform October 21, 2025 The government’s reform of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision will significantly change and diminish the roles of the legal regulator and HMRC. Today, the Treasury revealed the outcome of its consultation on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision, primarily for professional services, by creating a Single Professional Services Supervisor (SPSS), with the Financial [...]
Rolex is London’s most stolen luxury watch, but few recovered by Met Police October 21, 2025 Over 5,000 luxury watches have been stolen in London over the last three years, but barely one in 88 of these watches has been recovered by the Metropolitan Police. According to a Freedom of Information request seen by City AM, there have been 5,180 high-value watches, worth £3,000 or more, stolen between January 2022 and [...]
Bank of England: Global crisis ‘alarm bells’ in private credit October 21, 2025 The Governor of the Bank of England has warned of “alarm bells” in the private credit market as he cautioned of consequences parallel to the 2008 global financial crisis. Andrew Bailey told lawmakers on Tuesday the collapse of US car parts maker First Brands and auto-dealership Tricolor could be “the canary in the coalmine” as [...]
UK Athletics posts profit for first time since 2017 October 21, 2025 UK Athletics has hailed a financial turnaround after going from a deficit of £1.2m to a surplus of £107,000 – its first since 2017. The accounts for the year to March 31 2025 saw losses slashed just three years after the track and field governing body appeared to be on the brink of bankruptcy. UK [...]