What London losing athletics to Nairobi tells us about future World Cup and Olympic bids September 20, 2026 England winning a World Cup in our lifetime. This may appear as elusive as ever, but hosting it may be more achievable. Particularly given our stadia, infrastructure and track record for hosting major global events. The signals from Downing Street suggest a similar plan. There’s talk of a potential 2042 World Cup in Great Britain, [...]
Labour warned UK at risk of foreign tech giants ‘pulling the plug’ September 18, 2026 Labour has “no plan” if foreign technology companies or governments cut Britain off from systems underpinning critical services, the Liberal Democrats have warned, after ministers acknowledged the risks posed by the UK’s reliance on overseas tech. Victoria Collins, the Lib Dems’ tech spokesperson, accused the government of handing “contract after contract to foreign tech oligarchs” [...]
Rishi Sunak calls on PM Andy Burnham to restore £35m pledge for cricket domes September 18, 2026 Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged current PM Andy Burnham to reinstate the £35m funding commitment to building all-weather “cricket domes” he made when he was in No10. Sunak pledged the sum in 2024 to create 22 of the facilities around the country but the Labour government scrapped the funding, labelling it “fantasy”, after [...]
Mark my words: tax rises are coming September 18, 2026 After Rachel Reeves’ tax raids of over £40bn in her 2024 Budget and £26bn in the 2025 edition, it should be inconceivable that John Healey will come back for more. Yet all the sights point in that direction, says Emma Revell No City AM reader could be unaware that Britain’s current economic outlook is not [...]
Nationalise Thames Water and block private rescue deal, MPs tell Burnham September 18, 2026 Andy Burnham and his government are facing increasing pressure to take control of Thames Water after a group of MPs warned a rescue deal led by its creditors should be rejected. A group of the stricken utility’s lenders, known as London & Valley Water, is vying to seize control of the company in a £10bn [...]
Ignorance is no excuse for Labour’s economic failures September 18, 2026 John Healey is copying Rachel Reeves’ technique of gaslighting the nation into thinking he had no idea what the bind markets and OBR have been screaming at every fiscal event, says Tom Harwood It feels like “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher should have been irritatingly on repeat every morning this week. Why? [...]
As it happened: Stocks slip as London’s rally loses momentum September 18, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks in London fell this morning as a three-day rally faded and erased much of the gains made following the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates yesterday. The FTSE 100 was trading down nearly one per cent at 12:50pm, dragged lower by falls for Shell [...]
James Watt: Andy Burnham blames everyone but himself for the NEETs crisis September 17, 2026 Telling young people they’ve been let down by ‘the system’ is a narrative of despair that removes all agency from young people. If Andy Burnham really wants to help NEETs he should get out of employers’ way, says James Watt Andy Burnham’s recent comments about the growing number of young people not in education, employment [...]
Britain needs tax devolution, but beware of fiscal war September 17, 2026 Britain is an outlier for tax centralisation, but devolution can go badly wrong, says Tim Sarson Last week government front benchers and local leaders from across England got together at Number 10 North to discuss the details of a new Visitor Levy, or tourism tax. Quite a momentous moment in its own way, because this [...]
Sir James Cleverly: London needs its mojo back September 17, 2026 Council takeovers in Westminster and Wandsworth have offered the Tories a new confidence boost in London. Sir James Cleverly, once close to becoming party leader, speaks to Maurício Alencar about his ambition to lead the Conservatives into the next London mayoral election in 2028. Unprompted, Sir James Cleverly insists it’s “nonsense” that London is a [...]