Reeves’ Spring Statement was yet another missed opportunity March 3, 2026 Rachel Reeves wanted this Spring Statement to be a non-event. In that she succeeded, says Julian Jessop The Chancellor’s Spring Statement sent a signal of “steady as she goes”. Unfortunately, what was really needed is a change of course. There was plenty of party political knockabout, but no major policy announcements and nothing to lift [...]
Spring Statement Live: UK growth cut for 2026 but Reeves touts future forecasts March 3, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement today, as the Office for Budget Responsibility published its updated forecasts for the years ahead. The Chancellor was handed quite a hefty blow with the UK’s growth estimate for 2026 slashed to 1.1 per cent from 1.4 per cent the year prior. [...]
Watch: Spotlight turns on Reeves – and the state of our economy February 26, 2026 We haven’t heard much from Rachel Reeves so far this year – probably a deliberate strategy – but is the Chancellor set to make waves next week at the Spring Statement? Rachel Reeves didn’t have a great 2025. UK quarterly GDP growth peaked in Q1 at 0.7 per cent as firms front-loaded their activity to [...]
Budget documents accessed thousands of times before release February 10, 2026 The budget was accessed nearly 25,000 times before its formal release, according to an official report into the leak, raising questions over the data handling practices of the UK’s fiscal watchdog. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had identified at least 24,701 successful downloads of the document, compared to the 43 spotted in [...]
Labour ‘quietly hammering’ workers as pensioners benefit, think tank warns January 2, 2026 The Labour government is “quietly hammering” workers following the Autumn Budget’s stealth tax raid while pensioners and those on benefits are set to enjoy a jump in income, a think tank has said. In the November Budget, Rachel Reeves extended the freeze on income tax thresholds until 2031 – a move which is viewed as [...]
FCA chief ducks committing to investigating Treasury briefings December 3, 2025 The boss of the City watchdog appeared to skirt committing to investigating Treasury briefings when pressed on the Labour government’s “possible market abuse” on Wednesday morning. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, has been lobbied by the Conservatives and other opponents to the Labour government to look into the rogue briefings on [...]
FTSE 100 Live: OBR chiefs face MP grilling; Food inflation slows December 2, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) admitted its “worst failure in the 15-year history” of the fiscal watchdog on Monday. This morning, from 10am, two of its remaining spokespeople will be facing a grilling from the Treasury select committee of MPs. The sensational leak of [...]
Voters’ verdict: Tax hikes breach manifesto and Reeves should resign December 1, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should resign following a decision to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds in a move seen by voters as a breach of Labour’s manifesto, new polling has revealed. The government is facing intense pressure over the way it conducted economic policymaking, with questions lurking over a potential breach of the Labour [...]
Reeves accused of misleading country over ‘black hole’ in public finances November 28, 2025 Rachel Reeves is in the firing line for “misleading the country” after the chair of the fiscal watchdog poured cold water over claims there was a black hole in public finances. In a new letter addressed to the chair of the Treasury select committee, the OBR chair Richard Hughes said he was taking the “unusual [...]
Leak and Let Die: OBR calls in former spook to investigate early Budget release November 27, 2025 The embattled Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has brought in a former top spook to investigate how its entire forecast was published early before Rachel Reeves stood up to deliver the Budget. Alongside the watchdog’s oversight board, Ciaran Martin, former chief of the National Cyber Security Centre – part of the security services – will [...]