Ed Miliband rules out zonal energy pricing July 10, 2025 The UK government has ruled out the introduction of a zonal energy pricing system that would have seen regions closer to renewable energy sources likelier to see lower prices. Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has opted to reform the existing system by reviewing the way transmission charges work and incentivising the [...]
Number of affordable homes started in London plummets July 10, 2025 The number of affordable homes underway in the capital has fallen far short of expectations as tight regulations and cost pressures make sites unviable. The Greater London Authority has so far completed 871 homes under the 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), according to its annual housing report. This is just over five per cent of [...]
Greenergy biodiesel plant do shut down in latest industrial strategy blow July 10, 2025 One of Britain’s biggest biodiesel plants is preparing to shut down in the latest blow to the government’s industrial strategy. The Greenergy plant in Lincolnshire, which is thought to produce as much as a quarter of the UK’s biodiesel, on Thursday confirmed it would begin consultation on a proposal to cease production. Greenergy said its [...]
Benefits claimants take home more than minimum wage workers July 10, 2025 Brits claiming sickness benefits can be paid up to £25,000, which is more than the take home pay of a minimum wage worker. That’s according to new research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which found that if a claimant is receiving universal credit incapacity benefits alongside personal independence payments and housing benefits, the total [...]
Labour’s tax addiction will end in tears July 10, 2025 It is now pretty much universally accepted that the government will launch a fresh tax raid in October’s budget. City economists expect the Treasury to be on the hunt for between £10bn and £20bn of additional revenue, though given the expensive u-turns on winter fuel payments and welfare reform combined with likely lower growth forecasts [...]
Reform top the polls but voters cool on Nigel Farage July 9, 2025 Reform UK continues to ride high in the opinion polls – climbing 16 points since last year’s election – yet voters appeared to have cooled on Nigel Farage as new City AM polling suggests he’s lost some of his shine. A post-government slump in support for the Conservative Party and lack of approval for the [...]
Brutal bean-counters break the news: we’re utterly broke July 9, 2025 These are difficult times for a news organisation that likes to think of itself as being on the glass-half-full side of life. Optimism is in short supply, and whatever reserves remained after 12 months of this government were snatched away from us yesterday by those bean-counting assassins at the Office for Budget Responsibility. Once a [...]
Labour’s Mansion House will be lift-off or letdown for banks July 9, 2025 Britain’s banking sector will be keeping a close eye on Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House speech on July 15 in which the Chancellor will lay out Labour’s roadmap for financial services. Banks are set to take centre stage in the Treasury’s Financial Services Growth & Competitiveness Strategy as Reeves looks to harness the sector to power [...]
Rachel Reeves to face fresh blow with sluggish growth data July 8, 2025 The UK economy is expected to have grown by a miserly 0.1 per cent in May, consensus among City economists suggests, undermining Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ commitment to deliver higher growth. The government’s difficult two weeks could get a whole lot worse on Friday morning when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on GDP [...]
Brits back spending cuts over tax rises July 8, 2025 Voters prefer spending cuts over tax rises, fresh polling has found, putting Chancellor Rachel Reeves at odds with an electorate that has become frustrated with her economic policies. Rachel Reeves set spending pledges in stone in June when she confirmed Labour would boost day-to-day departmental and capital spending, with the NHS receiving a fresh three-year [...]