What does Rachel Reeves’ ‘low-key’ Spring Statement mean for markets? March 2, 2026 Ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement on Tuesday, Investec’s Chief Economist Philip Shaw sat down with City AM’s Rupert Hargreaves to discuss what investors should look out for in the key statement. Rupert Hargreaves: Next Tuesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes updated economic and fiscal forecasts, as required under the 2011 Budget Responsibility Act, [...]
Business confidence slumps ahead of Spring Statement March 2, 2026 Business confidence slumped back in February as directors’ frustration with the state of the UK economy grew, new research has shown. The Institute of Directors’ latest business confidence survey has uncovered bosses’ exasperation with the UK economy and the level of employment taxes preventing them from taking on more workers. The IoD said its economic [...]
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 [...]
Made to be broken? Reeves urged to keep fiscal rules February 26, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to keep her fiscal rules amid growing calls for tweaks to be made to factor in long-term investments and demands for higher defence spending. Richard Hughes, the most recent chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), called on Reeves to see out her fiscal rules through parliament. Appearing [...]
Low-key Spring Statement still poses risks for Rachel Reeves February 25, 2026 Just under a week from now the Chancellor will stand up and deliver the Spring Statement. We aren’t expecting any fireworks, not least because Rachel Reeves has made it clear that she only wants to preside over one major fiscal event a year, and that’s the Autumn Budget. Nevertheless, next Wednesday still has the potential [...]
Louise Haigh doubles down on demand for OBR overhaul February 24, 2026 Former transport secretary and vocal soft-left backbencher Louise Haigh has issued another plea for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to overhaul the Office for Budget Responsibility a week before the Spring Statement. In a swipe at the Chancellor’s management of the UK economy, Haigh argued that mandating the watchdog to produce five-year forecast windows “risks entrenching decline”. [...]
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 [...]
Banks cool on interest rate cut expectations amid forecasting clash January 28, 2026 Top City banks have pushed back their predictions for the Bank of England’s next interest rate cut as forecasters are split on whether high inflation could upend monetary policy decisions. UBS Investment Bank economist Anna Titareva pushed back a call for the Bank’s next cut from February to March after the Office for National Statistics [...]
Total UK government borrowing beats OBR forecast January 22, 2026 UK government has already borrowed more this year than the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast, official data has revealed, wrapping up a difficult 12 months for Rachel Reeves as she grapples with keeping public finances safe from further shocks. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated public sector borrowing to have been £11.6bn over the [...]
Starmer to U-turn on mandatory digital ID January 14, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer is expected to perform another U-turn by scrapping plans to make a national digital ID compulsory for all Brits. After backtracking on a number of policies, from the farm tax to the end of winter fuel payments, the Prime Minister is set to reveal that the government will no longer make all [...]