Labour will regret the Renters’ Rights Act May 1, 2026 There were celebrations across the Labour frontbench as the Renters’ Rights Act came into force today. That won't last for long, writes Ben Hopkinson.
Hiring freezes loom as business confidence remains near record low May 1, 2026 British business leaders are bracing for hiring freezes as headcount expectations dropped into negative territory again, according to new data from the Institute of Directors. The IoD’s economic confidence Index edged up to -64 in April from -76 in March, remaining close to historic lows. But headcount expectations slipped to minus three from zero in [...]
I’m a Tory – here’s why I’m voting Labour in the local elections April 30, 2026 In a time of messy, multi-party politics, tactical voting is likely to define contests in next week’s local elections. Alys Denby is not prepared to let the Green Party take control of her bin collection I’m about to do something against which all my instincts recoil, something so shameful I hesitate to admit in this [...]
Badenoch claims Reeves will be ousted as traders warn on Labour’s turn to left April 29, 2026 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has predicted that Rachel Reeves will be sacked as Chancellor after the local elections in May, as top bankers warn of the impact of any left-turn by the government. Badenoch asked Sir Keir Starmer whether he would “reshuffle the Chancellor” after the May elections, with the Prime Minister not directly commenting [...]
Number of top rate taxpayers surges as frozen thresholds squeeze Brits April 29, 2026 The number of higher and additional rate taxpayers in the UK has soared since the start of the decade as frozen thresholds have dragged nearly two million into paying higher rates of tax despite not being classified as traditional high-paid professionals. According to the latest personal income statistics from HMRC covering the 2023/24 tax year, [...]
End of deadlock: Pension Schemes Bill to become law as government backs down April 29, 2026 The Pension Schemes Bill is set to become law after the House of Lords agreed to final watering down plans from the government, ending the long-standing deadlock between the two houses. The legislation had run into multiple walls amid consistent back and forth between the lower and upper house, after neither side refused to back [...]
Rent controls: The left hand doesn’t know what the far-left hand is doing April 29, 2026 For just under 24 hours the residential landlord sector was seized by panic following reports that first appeared on Monday night that the Chancellor was preparing to impose a ‘temporary’ ban on rent increases. The policy of rent controls was hitherto the preserve of the Green Party and Labour’s loony left, but then came reports [...]
Starmer blocks sleaze inquiry despite Tory and Labour pressure April 28, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has won a vote to block a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled MPs over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite significant pressure from opposition parties and some Labour MPs. Labour backbenchers voted down a Tory motion to launch a so-called “sleaze inquiry” by the Privileges Committee [...]
Pension deadlock: Government and Lords refuse to back down in stalemate April 28, 2026 The government and the House of Lords are locked in a high-stakes political standoff over pensions, both refusing to back down on their demands for the Pension Schemes Bill, leaving its passage up in air as the clock winds down on this parliamentary session. Attempts to finalise the bill in the upper house remain ensnared [...]
‘Knife through my soul’: McSweeney, Starmer and Whitehall war over Mandelson saga April 28, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who pushed for Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, has said that further revelations over the disgraced peer’s links to Jeffrey Epstein were a “knife through my soul”. In a blockbuster appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee, McSweeney apologised for urging the Prime Minister to appoint [...]