Starmer took sport freebies worth tens of thousands of pounds while PM July 17, 2026 Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer took sport-related freebies worth tens of thousands of pounds in his two years at Downing Street. Official data declared by the Prime Minister in the register of accepted gifts and hospitality shows the sport-mad leader has enjoyed £33,000 worth of perks since winning a landslide victory for his Labour [...]
Thames Water in the dark as Burnham mulls embattled utility’s future July 17, 2026 Thames Water and the group of creditors vying to buy it have had no engagement with Andy Burnham’s team as the incoming prime minister weighs whether to take full public control of the struggling utility, City AM understands. Burnham said earlier this year that Thames Water should be nationalised and has repeatedly called for greater [...]
Starmer’s final act will expose firms to more bogus equality claims July 16, 2026 In his final days, Keir Starmer has opened the door to employees being able to challenge pay differences between entirely different jobs if predominantly staffed by people of different races, and a tribunal determines those – entirely different jobs – to be of ‘equal value’. says Tom Harwood As Keir Starmer bows out after two [...]
We should all get behind this wealth tax July 16, 2026 A wealth tax is once again rising up the agenda as Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street. The tax is remarkably popular. YouGov polling last year found 75 per cent of Brits would be in favour of the introduction of a wealth tax, with only 13 per cent opposed. There are three clear reasons [...]
The pensions triple lock is a travesty. Our politicians must fess up July 16, 2026 We report this week that the OECD has added itself to a growing list of institutions warning over the sustainability of Britain’s triple lock pensions system, the policy that guarantees the state pension rises annually by the highest of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent. The triple lock, the Paris-based OECD warns, is “unusually [...]
UK economy grows despite Iran war hit July 16, 2026 The UK economy grew marginally in May after strong performance in parts of the services sector helped soften the impact of Iran war and narrowly prevented a contraction. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed the economy grew 0.1 per cent in May, broadly in line with market expectations. The services [...]
As it happened: Stocks drop on Trump-Iran warning; Mahmood tipped to be chancellor July 16, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The UK has received fresh economic growth data this morning which has put GDP expansion at a sluggish 0.1 per cent for the month of May. The services sector – which contributes more than 80 per cent of total economic output – grew 0.3 per cent against steep [...]
Forget Burnham, what will Starmer do next? July 16, 2026 The end of a premiership means finding an epilogue, so what will Keir Starmer’s be, asks John Oxley Around the summer parties of Westminster, the key conversation is “What will Andy actually do?” The presumptive PM has always been something of a political enigma (or weathervane, depending on your perspective). He has been out of [...]
Shabana Mahmood set to be named Chancellor by Burnham July 15, 2026 Shabana Mahmood is set to be named Chancellor by Andy Burnham next week when the former Manchester mayor takes the keys to Number 10, according to reports. The home secretary has now pipped Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper and Wes Streeting to Rachel Reeves’ post, the Financial Times reported. A source told the paper: “Shabana is [...]
AI minister: UK sets sights on global AI leadership, not Silicon Valley emulation July 15, 2026 AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the UK must build enough domestic AI capability to “shape our own destiny” rather than rely on overseas tech giants as the government accelerates its push to develop sovereign AI infrastructure. Narayan told City AM that AI had become “the defining currency” of geopolitical and economic power, arguing that the [...]