Backlash grows as Reeves eyes VAT raid on cabs September 21, 2025 Rachel Reeves is facing a mounting backlash over plans to impose VAT on taxi fares, with campaigners warning the move will hammer rural residents, make it harder for disabled people to attend medical appointments, and heap pressure on the NHS budget. The chancellor is weighing proposals to introduce a 20 per cent levy on all [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes ‘won’t bring inflation down anytime soon’, Smeg warns September 18, 2025 The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last year’s Autumn Budget will mean it is “sometime” before inflation gets down to the government’s two per cent target, the UK arm of kitchenware brand Smeg has warned. The Abingdon-based division said the increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions, which came into effect in April, [...]
Michael Vaughan issues Autumn Budget plea to Rachel Reeves September 18, 2025 Cricket legend Michael Vaughan has issued a plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to help out start-ups and small-to-medium-sized (SMEs) businesses in her Autumn Budget on 26 November. Vaughan, who has recently invested in health and wellness supplement start-up Uthful, hit out at the employers’ National Insurance increase included in last year’s Autumn Budget for causing [...]
Reeves’ taxes ‘incredibly damaging’ to historic family business September 16, 2025 The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget are “a real setback” and will be “incredibly damaging”, one of the UK’s biggest family-owned breweries has warned. Robinsons Brewery, which has been in business in Stockport for more than 180 years, has issued a warning that 2025 will be “a much more [...]
Aldi issues Budget warning as profit slashed September 15, 2025 Profit at discount supermarket giant Aldi was slashed by more than £100m during its latest financial year despite sales passing the £18bn mark. New figures released by the chain show its operating profit declined from £552.9m to £435.5m in 2024. Aldi said the fall was as a result of it continuing to “lower prices for [...]
Autumn Budget: Rachel Reeves told to scrap ‘not fit for purpose’ Lifetime ISA September 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that the Lifetime ISA (LISA) is “not fit for purpose and must be reformed” in the Autumn Budget. Tom Goddard, a senior associate at audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, has argued that the LISA “must be reformed to not conflict with shared ownership schemes”. The LISA [...]
Rachel Reeves explores ‘pro-growth tax reforms’ to business rates September 11, 2025 Rachel Reeves will explore “fixing” cliff-edge business rates, which make small businesses pay higher taxes upon opening a second property, as part of reforms she has described as “pro-growth.” The Chancellor is reviewing changes to the small business rates relief, with a decision expected to be announced at the Autumn Budget on 26 November. Treasury [...]
Brits shy away from buying houses as uncertainty over property tax increases September 11, 2025 Buyer inquiries and sales slipped in August, with ‘ongoing uncertainty’ putting the brakes on the UK’s housing market, according to new data. Agreed sales slipped sharply, with a net balance of 24 per cent of property professionals seeing transactions fall, up from a balance of 17 per cent the previous month, the Royal Institution of [...]
Princess Yachts back in profit but Rachel Reeves’ Budget forces job cuts September 10, 2025 A luxury yacht builder has surged back into profit and its sales jumped by more than £100m as hundreds of jobs were cut because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget. Plymouth-based Princess Yachts has reported a revenue of £378m for 2024, up from the £276.3m it achieved in 2023, according to new accounts filed with Companies [...]
Reeves must stop punishing SMEs to save lifeless jobs market September 9, 2025 Amid record redundancies and a stagnant jobs market, Reeves must stop punishing SMEs at the next Budget, writes Kevin Fitzgerald.