Natwest and Lloyds to cash in as Reeves hints at ring-fencing reform May 19, 2025 Rachel Reeves has told top bank bosses she is “open-minded” to ditch the ring-fencing regime imposed on major banks. The Chancellor was lobbied by the chiefs of HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander to scrap the 15-year-old legislation last month. Lenders slammed the system – which requires firms to keep their retail bank operations separate from [...]
Labour to back use of ChatGPT and AI in schools May 19, 2025 The UK will back international guidelines on using generative AI such as ChatGPT in schools, the Education Secretary is set to announce. In a speech to the Education World Forum in London on Monday, Bridget Phillipson will aim to put Britain at the forefront of a “revolution” in education technology. As well as funding efforts [...]
Centrica: Major gas facility to shut without government help May 18, 2025 The boss of Centrica – which owns British Gas – has warned the UK’s largest natural gas storage facility will be “decommissioned” unless the government steps in. Speaking on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, company boss Chris O’Shea called for the government to underwrite the business’ investments in the Rough facility near the East Yorkshire [...]
UK-EU trade talks in ‘final hours’ ahead of landmark summit May 18, 2025 Talks on a UK-EU deal are in their “final hours” ahead of a major summit with the bloc, the minister in charge of negotiations has said. Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce a deal with the EU when he meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes are ‘death blow to London,’ Britain’s richest warn May 18, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under renewed pressure as Britain’s top business leaders and entrepreneurs blasted her economic agenda following The Sunday Times Rich List revealing a record drop in the country’s number of billionaires. Reeves’ crack down on “non-dom” status has accelerated an exodus of leading business bosses fleeing the UK to avoid the Chancellor’s [...]
MPs demand changes to inheritance tax raid on farms May 16, 2025 Plans to levy inheritance tax on farmland threaten the future of British agriculture and should be paused while its ill effects are properly examined, an influential committee of MPs has said. In a damning report on the state of British farming, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee argued there was a “considerable risk” [...]
Starmer seeks UK-EU ‘reset’ – is another Brexit row looming? May 16, 2025 Ongoing talks between the UK and the EU will come to a head at a summit in London on Monday, as the government seeks a post-Brexit “reset” of relations. The talks have come about as part of a routine five year review of the UK-EU trade and cooperation agreement, though they have taken on new [...]
Week in Business: Small glass of champagne for Reeves? May 15, 2025 There was some welcome economic growth in Q1 but it's in the rear view mirror; is there any on the horizon?
Boost for Rachel Reeves as UK economy booms in first quarter May 15, 2025 The UK economy surged by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, official data has shown, suggesting firms boosted production ahead of Rachel Reeves’s tax rises in April and the threat of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Fresh data provided by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy grew [...]
China could gatecrash Starmer’s diplomatic party May 15, 2025 Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that the UK doesn’t need to choose between strengthening economic and trade ties with the US and deepening them with the EU. A few weeks ago, concern was growing in Whitehall that if the UK didn’t strike a deal with America then the chance of a tariff rapprochement could be [...]