Fresh blow for Rachel Reeves as voters scorn growth plans June 10, 2025 A dwindling number of Brits have confidence that the government can deliver on its plans for economic growth, fresh polling has found, laying bare the scale of Rachel Reeves’ challenge to restore voter trust as she prepares to unveil the Spending Review on Wednesday. Just 22 per cent of Brits have some confidence in the [...]
Ouch: Three tech firms bail out of the UK in a single day June 10, 2025 The Prime Minister did his best to sound bullish about the future of the UK tech sector yesterday as he opened London Tech Week. Some awkward technical issues with his autocue didn’t put him off his stride as he declared that Britain was “unequivocally, unashamedly and defiantly open for business.” Leaving aside the bizarre idea [...]
Voters reject Reeves’ plans for state power on pension investments June 10, 2025 A majority of British voters oppose the government having powers to dictate pension fund investments, fresh polling has revealed, in a blow to Rachel Reeves’ attempts to use pension pot funds to boost growth. Three in five voters disagree with government influence over pension fund investments, according to a City AM and Freshwater Strategies poll [...]
Winter fuel U-turn could lead to ‘unfair’ and ‘complex’ tax system June 9, 2025 Treasury calculations on savings made from a means-tested winter fuel payment for nine million pensioners may be significantly reduced due to a “new complexity in the tax system”, an economics think tank has warned. The government has claimed that £1.25bn budgeting for winter fuel payments represents a cost reduction of up to £450m compared to [...]
London ‘left out’ of Reeves’ spending review June 9, 2025 London will find itself low on the chancellor’s agenda in the upcoming spending review, reports suggest. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been lobbying for extending the DLR to Thamesmead, and the Bakerloo line to Lewisham. However, getting the requisite funding to grow the transport system is looking unlikely. Bringing the Bakerloo line further south is anticipated [...]
Voters fear Reeves tax U-turn after Spending Review splash out June 9, 2025 UK voters are worried Chancellor Rachel Reeves will betray Labour manifesto pledges not to hike income tax, a new poll has suggested, as the government looks set to ramp up investment at Wednesday’s spending review. Sir Keir Starmer has declared that the government cannot “tax [its] way to growth” while ministers have said the spending [...]
Winter fuel payments to return for 9m pensioners in £1.3bn Labour u-turn June 9, 2025 The winter fuel payment will be handed out to 9m pensioners whose income falls below £35,000 a year, the Treasury has revealed, in a £1.25bn blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ chances of keeping her £9.9bn headroom intact.
Spear guns, knuckle dusters and machetes: The ‘prohibited items’ at London Tech Week June 9, 2025 London Tech Week 2025 opened with appearances from Sir Keir Starmer and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, but attendees got a bigger surprise from a sign at the door outlining “prohibited items” at the event. City AM has seen a list ranging from spear guns and tear gas to knuckle dusters, nun-chucks and machetes, that looked [...]
London Tech Week: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Keir Starmer unveil AI push June 9, 2025 Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and Keir Starmer unveiled a major AI push at London Tech Week this morning. The two figureheads have unveiled a range of changes to boost Britain’s AI infrastructure, research and industrial capacity, to help the UK become an “AI maker, not an AI taker.” US chip maker Nvidia, a leading player [...]
Spending review: Rachel Reeves in standoff over police budgets June 9, 2025 Just 48 hours out from the government’s spending review on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves faces a tax and spend tug-of-war between senior Cabinet ministers and the realities of the public finances. Yvette Cooper looks to be the major remaining holdout, with substantial cuts to Home Office funding expected at the spending review and no funding deal [...]