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. [...]
Burnham urged to axe tourist tax expansion in devolution drive August 3, 2026 A leading hospitality trade body has urged Andy Burnham to drop plans to expand the so-called “tourist tax” across the country as part of his devolution drive. UK Hospitality (UKH) has written a letter to the Prime Minister, seen by City AM, warning that the government’s overnight visitor levy would cost 33,000 jobs in the [...]
Jonathan Reynolds’ industrial strategy is straight out of the 60s August 3, 2026 Jonathan Reynolds, the new business secretary, has set out a vision for publicly owned services, with private sector partnerships, still under public control – a baffling vision from some eccentric economic bestiary, says Eliot Wilson Andrew Murray Burnham has been in Downing Street for two weeks now. He promised – new Prime Ministers always promise [...]
Iran war could ‘halt growth’ across UK economy August 3, 2026 The Iran war could “halt growth” in the UK economy as the success of Andy Burnham and John Healey’s economic management largely hinges on President Trump’s decision-making, a City firm has warned. Big Four consultancy EY has said that the UK economy could perform better than first expected this year as its growth forecast was [...]
Healey announces early Budget July 31, 2026 John Healey has confirmed he will deliver his first Budget on 28 October as he pledged to “shift power and money out of Westminster”. The Chancellor said on Friday that his first fiscal statement would “back Britain’s communities” setting the stage for a Budget that economists have predicted will be the country’s third in a [...]
Burnham says Infantino ‘wrong man’ to lead Fifa as Brits back World Cup boycott plans July 31, 2026 Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Gianni Infantino is the “wrong man” to lead Fifa as Brits back Uefa plans to boycott the next World Cup. The football-loving Prime Minister told reporters in Sheffield on Friday that Fifa’s plans to sell of stakes in the World Cup to private investors, spearheaded by Infantino, “was an [...]
Natwest hikes targets again after jump in profit July 31, 2026 Natwest has upgraded its income targets for a second quarter running as the bank posted better than expected profit and dished out a bumper dividend to investors. The blue-chip lender reported a 20 per cent jump in pre-tax profit in the first six months of 2026 to £4.3bn, up from £3.6bn the year prior and [...]
As it happened: Stocks reach new record as investors shrug off Iran war fears July 31, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It’s Friday morning and the FTSE 100 has opened into the green, following two consecutive days of record gains for the blue-chip index. London’s blue-chip index was up as high as 0.7 per cent in early trading to 10,971.88p, “The FTSE 100 tested new record highs on Friday morning as [...]
Burnham accused of imposing ‘top–down’ devolution July 30, 2026 Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda has been slammed over its “top down” approach after the Prime Minister unveiled new plans to share income tax revenue with local leaders. Burnham, himself a former Manchester mayor, said regional leaders in England will begin receiving a “greater share of locally generated revenues” next spring as part of his push [...]