Spending review: Rachel Reeves pledges £15.6bn for regional transport June 4, 2025 The government has made its biggest spending announcement since Labour’s drubbing at the local elections in May, with a pledge from Chancellor Rachel Reeves to double investment in local transport over the next five years. A £15.6bn cash injection will form a major pillar of the 11 June spending review, which the Treasury says would [...]
British Steel braces for fresh Trump tariff blow June 3, 2025 The British steel industry is gearing up for the hammer blow of fresh US tariffs after Downing Street could not confirm that steelmakers would be exempt from the levies. The UK government unveiled a trade deal with the US last month, under which metal exports would be exempted from punitive tariffs. But negotiations on the [...]
US trade deal: Jonathan Reynolds questioned on Trump talks progress June 3, 2025 Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith has raised questions around the progress of the UK-US trade deal, saying that the agreement has “not been signed, published and presented in any form”. In a letter posted on X, the former Treasury minister said that “no one has ever seen such a deal” and criticised Labour for a [...]
Sizewell C nuclear power station to get green light in July June 3, 2025 Sizewell C well get the green light at the Franco-British summit in July as talks between ministers and the private sector continue. The UK government is expected to reaffirm its intention to invest in the nuclear power station at the spending review on June 11, with details about how much taxpayer support the project will [...]
Deutsche Bank: £10bn of tax hikes coming in Autumn Budget June 3, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise taxes by at least £10bn in this year’s Autumn Budget as rising inflation and increased spending eat into the Treasury’s fiscal headroom. “With a tough Spending Review due in June, we expect fiscal news to worsen over the coming months,” said Deutsche Bank analysts in a research note. [...]
Starmer’s defence pledges will trigger a tax bombshell June 3, 2025 Here’s a cracker of a pub quiz question for you: what links mega-rich non-doms, nuclear-powered submarines, congestion in Wigan and the Bank of England’s former chief economist? The answer, as so often appears to be the case, is tax. On the day that Keir Starmer unveiled a Strategic Defence Review that calls for nearly £70bn [...]
Starmer’s defence spending will mean ‘chunky’ tax rises, warns IFS June 2, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to boost defence spending will require “chunky” tax rises, according to the chief of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Paul Johnson told Times Radio: “…if we’re really going to spend another £10-15 billion a year on defence, whilst inevitably we’re going to spend more and more on health and pensions [...]
Starmer refuses to commit 3 per cent defence spending despite ‘battle-ready’ claim June 2, 2025 Keir Starmer has been criticised for failing to commit to increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP. The Prime Minister vowed to put in place the “largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War,” with a 2.5 per cent share of GDP going to defence. However, the PM maintained that hitting [...]
Andy Haldane: Reeves ‘not even close’ on growth after ‘rookie errors’ June 2, 2025 The Bank of England’s former Chief Economist has slammed Rachel Reeves’ first near-full year as Chancellor as “disappointing”, with the government “not even close to doing enough” on growth. Less than two weeks out from the 11 June spending review, Andy Haldane told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that there have been “mistakes, rookie errors” that have [...]
Spending review: Government poised to boost NHS and defence sector June 1, 2025 The government’s spending review is likely to focus on the UK’s health and defence sectors, a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests. The spending review, which will be published on 11 June, will allocate departmental funding and budgets for the next three to four years. It has been the subject of speculation [...]