Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation? October 30, 2025 For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK [...]
Reeves may be forced to pay back £38,000 in rent after breach of housing rules October 30, 2025 Rachel Reeves may be forced to pay back tens of thousands in rent to her tenants after leasing her Southwark home without a license. Southwark’s rules on housing allow tenants to claim up to 12 months of rent if they’re a tenant of an unlicensed property. Given that Reeves has been renting out her £3,200-a-month [...]
‘Unprecedented’ number of small businesses expect to shrink or close down October 30, 2025 A record number of small businesses are expecting to shrink or close down in the next year, a leading industry group has warned, amid a “vicious” cycle of low growth and fears that next month’s Budget could cause more pain for businesses. Nearly one in three of the UK’s small businesses (30 per cent) expect [...]
Pound falls to 2023 low against Euro as Budget jitters spike October 29, 2025 The Pound suffered a sharp drop on Wednesday as investors braced for an economic hit in Rachel Reeves’ forthcoming Budget. Sterling’s downturn came as the UK’s fiscal watchdog looks set to hand a hefty downgrade to the country’s productivity growth. On Wednesday morning, the pound fell 0.4 per cent against the Euro to 1.13 – [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to rule out income tax raid at the Budget October 29, 2025 Keir Starmer dodged questions on whether Labour would raise income tax, VAT or national insurance, the clearest sign yet that the government is looking at breaking key party manifesto commitments on taxes. During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch grilled Starmer on whether Rachel Reeves was laying the groundwork for an income tax raid [...]
Autumn Budget: Rachel Reeves pledges to beat ‘gloomy’ economic forecasts October 29, 2025 Rachel Reeves has insisted that the UK can overcome bleak forecasts that look set to box her into manifesto U-turns and further tax hikes. The Chancellor wrote in The Guardian that she is “determined not to simply accept the forecasts”, pointing to interest rates cuts and trade deals as examples of Britain on the right [...]
Reform pledges £9bn welfare savings as Tories urged to apologise October 29, 2025 Reform UK has laid out a smaller savings package on disability payments than one planned by the Tories as opposition parties vie to gain credibility on welfare reform. Reform UK’s Lee Anderson, the party’s spokesman for welfare, set out plans on curbing personal independence payments (Pips) for under 25-year-olds and for people with “non-major anxiety”. [...]
Government-run survey casts doubt on Labour’s net zero push October 29, 2025 A government-run survey has cast doubt on Labour’s push for net zero as Brits fear that it would push up living expenses in both the short and long term. The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) own research has suggested that the government is losing the public’s faith in its mission to cut [...]
Firms brace for ‘difficult winter’ as tax burden weighs on activity October 29, 2025 Companies across the private sector are braced for a “difficult” winter as activity is forecast to downturn across UK services due to mounting tax fears, fresh research has indicated. A leading survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), considered to be one of the UK’s most influential business groups, has suggested that private sector [...]
Starmer: UK will not be pushed by China on embassy October 28, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at China’s Foreign Ministry as he said a decision on its embassy proposal at the Royal Mint Court site, located just beyond the Square Mile, would be taken in a “proper way regardless of any views or pressure from anyone”. In an interview with Bloomberg, the Prime Minister defended [...]