Council tax revaluation on high-value homes to disproportionately hit London and South East November 15, 2025 Rachel Reeves is set to introduce a council tax surcharge on expensive homes in a move that will disproportionately impact London and the South East, according to reports. The Chancellor is currently finalizing plans to plug a £25bn black hole in the public finances, and last week ruled out a major rise to income taxes. [...]
LLP U-turn: Law Society demands ‘absolute clarity’ plan is off the table November 14, 2025 The professional services sector will breathe a sigh of relief as one of her reported rollbacks includes crossing out plans to target limited liability partnerships (LLPs) for tax. The LLP model, used by professional services such as law firms, accountancy, and some doctors (GPs), came into force 25 years ago, which does not pay corporate [...]
Lloyds and Natwest shares fall in ‘perfect combination’ of fears November 14, 2025 Lloyds and Natwest shares were among the top fallers on the FTSE 100 index on Friday as a combination of fears weighed upon City stocks. The FTSE 350 bank index lost 2.17 per cent over the course of the day amid a widespread sell off across the blue-chip index. The FTSE 100 fell 1.1 per [...]
Rachel Reeves panics markets by ditching plans for income tax hike November 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves is understood to have scrapped plans to break Labour’s manifesto and hike income tax in the forthcoming Autumn Budget. The Chancellor was poised to hike income tax by 2p whilst cutting national insurance by the same amount in a move that would break Labour’s pledge to not raise taxes on ‘working people.’ Over [...]
Will the Budget push the economy off the cliff? November 13, 2025 Downing Street is in chaos and the economy has flatlined. Now, with just a couple of weeks to go until we find out what’s really in Rachel Reeves’ Budget, Britain’s bosses are getting restless. It used to be the case that Chancellor’s went quiet in the run-up to a Budget, keeping their powder dry and [...]
Persimmon makes progress despite Budget uncertainty November 13, 2025 London-listed housebuilder Persimmon has made steady progress this year, despite a variety of macroeconomic headwinds. Forward sales have risen 15 per cent since July 1 to £2.79bn, with three-quarters of forward sales being private. Just over four-fifths of Persimmon’s expected private house deliveries have already been exchanged or completed, it said. “Progress has been achieved [...]
Leadership spat sends jitters through bond markets November 13, 2025 Jitters coursed through UK bond markets on Wednesday after a leadership crisis engulfing the Labour government triggered a jump in gilt yields, leading investors to warn that more political instability risked exacerbating the ‘moron premium’ applied to UK borrowing costs. Interest on 10-year gilts rose by three basis points, while the pound slumped to its lowest level [...]
FTSE 100 closes in on 10,000 after outperforming US indices November 12, 2025 The FTSE 100 is inching a step closer to the magic 10,000 mark after almost a year of outperforming counterparts across the Atlantic. London’s blue-chip index rallied on the open before giving up some gains to settle on a broadly flat level. It follows two consecutive record closes with the City shrugging off bubbling tensions [...]
Rachel Reeves mulls second booze tax hike November 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering an increase in taxes on alcohol in line with a higher reading of inflation in a repeat of last year’s Budget, according to reports. Reeves could hike duties by the retail prices index (RPI) inflation rate in a bid to raise more cash to fill an estimated £30bn fiscal hole [...]
Taylor Wimpey shares slump as boss blasts Budget uncertainty November 12, 2025 The boss of Taylor Wimpey has blamed weak market conditions that hit the firm’s bottom line on the uncertainty surrounding the forthcoming Budget. Jennie Daly, chief executive of the housebuilder, said: “Market conditions remain challenging, impacted by uncertainty ahead of the upcoming UK Budget and continued affordability pressures.” Shares in Taylor Wimpey were down over 3.5 [...]