OBR warns unfunded spending to damage UK finances amid ‘daunting’ risks July 8, 2025 The UK economy is set for a “daunting” year as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned unfunded spending commitments and global trade tensions are likely to damage public finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing pressure to assuage Labour backbenchers by not cutting welfare spending while also upholding a pledge not to raise tax [...]
Stephen Kinnock says Reeves looking ‘very carefully’ at wealth tax July 8, 2025 Health minister Stephen Kinnock has given the strongest hint yet that a wealth tax might be on the agenda for the government after his father – the former Labour leader Lord Kinnock – intervened to push for the policy over the weekend. The junior Kinnock told LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty that the government has “already taken [...]
Labour voters are suffering from buyers’ remorse July 8, 2025 32 per cent of those who voted Labour in 2024 say that they regret voting the way that they did at the last General Election, compared to just 15 per cent of all voters, according to the latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy Poll, says Matthew Lesh Even the Chancellor’s harshest critics must have felt a flicker [...]
Labour go on about Liz Truss but are repeating all Rishi Sunak’s mistakes July 8, 2025 Too many in Labour congratulate themselves for rescuing the country from Liz Truss, forgetting that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt did most of the work. No wonder backbenchers are angry about a policy platform that’s barely distinct form their Tory predecessors, says Will Cooling There’s no shortage of things that have gone wrong with the [...]
A wealth tax would be a disaster – and an admission of total failure July 8, 2025 Why wouldn’t Downing Street rule out a wealth tax? It isn’t difficult, you just say “we will not introduce a wealth tax” and the show moves on. Instead, when asked about the growing clamour in Labour circles for new tax aimed squarely at the well-off, Downing Street’s spokesperson simply talked about the need for “the [...]
What’s so bad about a wealth tax? July 7, 2025 That "millionaires don't need all that money" misses the point. Wealth taxes hurt us all, writes Callum Price.
Downing Street flirts with wealth tax despite exodus fears July 7, 2025 The UK’s unprecedented exodus of wealthy people could be set to accelerate after the government opened the door to introducing a wealth tax, following calls for such a move by former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock and a host of union leaders. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has all but conceded that taxes will have to rise [...]
Starmer’s biggest barrier to growth is the Labour party July 7, 2025 A year into Labour rule, the UK economy shows resilience despite government missteps, but Starmer’s statist instincts and fiscal misfires risk stalling the very growth he promises to deliver, says Eliot Wilson Sir Keir Starmer has little in common with Liz Truss, but the two Prime Ministers agreed on one issue: the UK will only [...]
Hiring confidence worst in 13 years as businesses brace for further tax hikes July 7, 2025 Appetite for hiring among employers has fallen to lows not seen since 2012, as bosses bring up the drawbridge following bruising hikes to business rates and more tax rises looming at the next Budget. Research from the BDO Business Trends barometer found that firms are “holding back recruitment” despite indications of a summer recovery. Employment [...]
Get ready for £30bn tax raid, City analysts warn July 5, 2025 Top City economists have warned welfare U-turns and President Trump’s damage to growth prospects will lead to tax hikes worth £30bn this autumn. Chancellor Rachel Reeves suggested last year’s £40bn tax raid on businesses, homeowners and investors was a “once in a parliament reset” while Keir Starmer has suggested the UK could not “tax [its] [...]