Reeves: Cutting ties with China would be ‘foolish’ April 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said it would be “foolish” to stop engaging with China. Reeves is due to hold talks with the US next week amid efforts to strike a trade deal, which the UK hopes can help soften the brunt of Donald Trump’s tariffs. There has been speculation that Washington may press the UK [...]
Starmer and Trump discuss ‘ongoing and productive’ trade talks April 18, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump in the first call with the US President since he unveiled 10 per cent tariffs on all goods imported to America from the UK. The two leaders discussed the “ongoing and productive discussions” on trade between the two countries, a Downing Street spokesperson said. “The Prime Minister [...]
Week in Business: Labour’s jobs madness as employers urge change of plan April 17, 2025 Business Secretary Johnny Reynolds was so fed up with people criticising him for never having run a business that he bought himself a whopping great steel mill in Scunthorpe. Now firmly a member of the boss class, will he have sympathy with the business chiefs who this week begged the government to rip up their [...]
UK-US trade deal could be agreed within weeks, as MPs call for vote April 17, 2025 A trade deal between the UK and the US could reportedly be agreed within weeks, as senior MPs have called for Parliament to have a vote on any such agreement. According to a report in the Telegraph, White House officials believe a deal with the UK could be finalised with President Donald Trump’s administration in [...]
A game of chlorinated chicken: What is the price of a US-UK trade deal? April 17, 2025 An economic deal between the UK and the US could be just weeks away. The Trump administration has made sweeping promises of a “90 deals in 90 days” package of bespoke arrangements. While deals with India, Japan and South Korea are expected to be done first, the UK is understood to be not far behind [...]
The government is facing a wave of summer strikes – how will it respond? April 17, 2025 Public sector strike action is always tricky territory for Labour politicians to navigate, particularly when the party is in opposition. When strikes plagued the previous Tory government (teachers and junior doctors in particular) Labour MPs – including Keir Starmer – were quick to condemn the government while trying hard not to criticise the unions, with [...]
Stealth income tax hike will hit millions of over 60s April 16, 2025 Millions more Brits, including a significant percentage of over 60s, will be dragged into paying income tax in the coming months as Rachel Reeves squeezes the spending powers of lower earners with a freeze on tax bands. Official data suggests that around 11m Brits will begin paying the basic rate of income tax by 2028. [...]
Government scrambles to swerve Trump pharma tariffs April 16, 2025 A race against time is underway to shield the UK pharmaceutical sector from potentially swinging Trump tariffs on imported drugs. As it stands, there is an exemption for pharmaceuticals on the baseline 10 per cent tariffs for goods coming into the US. However, President Trump has warned that there will be tariffs on imported pharma [...]
Inflation eases in March amid looming Bank decision April 16, 2025 Inflation remained stubbornly high at 2.6 per cent in March, official data has shown, leaving Bank of England policymakers with a difficult decision to make on interest rates early next month. The year-on-year increase in consumer price inflation (CPI) was lower than the 2.7 per cent figure forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists. The [...]
EU reset: Government face backlash on meat and dairy regulatory alignment April 15, 2025 The government is facing a backlash over reported plans to align with EU regulations on meat and dairy products. UK officials have suggested to European Union (EU) counterparts that Britain could be willing to accept alignment with EU rules on fresh meat and dairy, and to accept oversight of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), [...]