International students should not be treated as migrants November 15, 2025 Framing a tax on students as a migration control is a misguided move that punishes one of Britain's greatest assets, says Virenda Sharma.
Autumn Budget: What does the income tax U-turn mean for your salary? November 14, 2025 In a major U-turn, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ is understood to have ripped up plans to hike income tax in the looming Autumn Budget. Reeves was poised to hitch up income tax by 2p at the end of the month, whilst cutting national insurance – for lower earners – by the same amount. While the decision [...]
Lloyds and Natwest shares fall in ‘perfect combination’ of fears November 14, 2025 Lloyds and Natwest shares were among the top fallers on the FTSE 100 index on Friday as a combination of fears weighed upon City stocks. The FTSE 350 bank index lost 2.17 per cent over the course of the day amid a widespread sell off across the blue-chip index. The FTSE 100 fell 1.1 per [...]
Rachel Reeves panics markets by ditching plans for income tax hike November 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves is understood to have scrapped plans to break Labour’s manifesto and hike income tax in the forthcoming Autumn Budget. The Chancellor was poised to hike income tax by 2p whilst cutting national insurance by the same amount in a move that would break Labour’s pledge to not raise taxes on ‘working people.’ Over [...]
Redundancies and scant vacancies weakens jobs market November 14, 2025 A fall in the number of vacancies and growth in the jobseekers pool due to more redundancies has led to a further decline in the jobs market, a leading survey has indicated. Official data this week showed a jump in the unemployment rate from 4.8 per cent to five per cent in a set of [...]
Will the Budget push the economy off the cliff? November 13, 2025 Downing Street is in chaos and the economy has flatlined. Now, with just a couple of weeks to go until we find out what’s really in Rachel Reeves’ Budget, Britain’s bosses are getting restless. It used to be the case that Chancellor’s went quiet in the run-up to a Budget, keeping their powder dry and [...]
Productivity growth twitchy in wake-up call for OBR and Reeves November 13, 2025 Productivity levels stuttered in the third quarter of the year, an initial estimate has shown, subverting the Chancellor’s hopes of boosting output in the UK economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday morning that quarterly growth in output per hour rates was 0.7 per cent, the highest level since the end of [...]
UK economy barely grows in third quarter November 13, 2025 The UK economy grew at a more sluggish pace than expected in the third quarter of the year amid a pervasive sense of gloom across the country ahead of the Budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there was 0.1 per cent GDP growth between July and September, triggering fears among City analysts that [...]
Business leaders bemoan Budget uncertainty as tax hikes loom November 13, 2025 Business leaders up and down the country have poured scorn on the Chancellor after months of Budget uncertainty damaged consumer confidence and forced firms to hold off key investment decisions. Scores of chief executives, from retail to hospitality to telecoms and manufacturing, have voiced their concern over the lack of a clear fiscal plan after [...]
Starmer promised a calmer politics – how’s that working out? November 13, 2025 They say that if you’re explaining, you’re losing. That quote, attributed to Ronald Reagan, came to mind yesterday as I watched Keir Starmer squirm his way through howls of laughter in the House of Commons as he insisted “we are a united team.” This was fish in a barrel stuff for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, [...]