Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin attacks government’s ‘unfriendly’ attitude to business September 11, 2026 Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said he is “very concerned” by the wealth exodus gripping the UK as he hit out at Labour’s “unfriendly” attitude towards entrepreneurs. The pub tycoon said it is “madness” to blame the number of ultra-rich businesspeople leaving the country on anything other than the business conditions created by the government. [...]
Businesses urge Healey to reduce cost pressures in pre-Budget campaigns September 10, 2026 The bosses of Britain’s largest industry groups have urged Chancellor John Healey to reduce the cost of business in order to boost growth across the UK economy, City AM has been informed. Several business chiefs sent letters to the Treasury on Wednesday night with demands for the government to relieve pressures on employers. Correspondence landing [...]
Burnham insists defence uplift ‘can’t come at expense’ of welfare September 9, 2026 Andy Burnham has said an uplift in defence spending will not come “at the expense” of benefits. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham said “national security can’t come at the expense of social security” in response to attacks from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch over the absence of plans to get defence spending up to three per [...]
Why Labour can’t kick Whitehall’s consultancy habit September 9, 2026 Since coming to power, Labour has been vocal about cutting spending on external consultants to save taxpayers money. However, data suggests it has actually moved in the opposite direction, as the private sector shows it is a necessity and not a luxury, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The pledge to cut back on external consultants was first [...]
Will Westminster learn the right lessons from Scotland’s education disaster? September 9, 2026 When experiments are run in public policy, evidence can be collected and the policies can be reviewed, scored and either rolled out, tweaked or abandoned. Not every area of policy lends itself to evidence-based analysis, but sometimes it’s clear-cut. We can see, for example, whether tax revenues rise or fall in response to fiscal reforms. [...]
Trade sanctions on Israeli settlements attacked as ‘performative’ September 8, 2026 Trade sanctions imposed by Andy Burnham’s government on Israeli settlements in the West Bank are “performative” and could put the UK’s international standing at threat, shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat has said. On Tuesday, Ed Miliband announced the government would impose sanctions on companies and individuals who finance or help create settlements in Palestinian land, [...]
Unleash growth or you’ll have to hike taxes even higher, FTSE 100 boss warns Healey September 8, 2026 The government must unleash growth in the forthcoming Budget or ministers will be forced to hike taxes even higher at future fiscal events, the boss of the largest player in the UK pensions market has warned. Andy Briggs, the chief executive of Standard Life, told City AM the UK’s ageing population leaves the Chancellor John [...]
Can John Healey deliver the growth the UK needs? September 7, 2026 The Chancellor John Healey says growth will provide the “pathway out of indebtedness and into prosperity”. But the path is a difficult one to tread, write Mauricio Alencar. When it was announced that John Healey would be delivering a speech in Coventry, it was assumed that he would be visiting Jaguar Land Rovers’s headquarters with [...]
UK government slashes corporate red tape, cutting paperwork ‘longer than The Hobbit’ September 7, 2026 Ministers have announced sweeping reforms to corporate reporting, aiming to save businesses over £450m annually by ditching “Hobbit-length” paperwork. Under the overhaul, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including local family firms, will be exempt from certain reporting forms and audits, aiming to save businesses thousands of pounds and hours of administrative work. The Department for [...]
Healey says growth is ‘pathway out of debt’ but bats away tax questions September 7, 2026 Chancellor John Healey said he will “not speculate” on expected tax rises at his maiden Budget next month as he said growth was at the “heart of fiscal challenges” facing the UK. In his first major speech as Chancellor in Coventry, Healey batted away questions about whether businesses and households were set to face another [...]