Rachel Reeves warns ‘harder choices’ coming at Budget September 29, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned that her choices will be “harder” at this year’s Budget, with questions being raised on whether she will row back on Labour manifesto tax commitments to plug a £30bn shortfall. In a speech at the Labour Party conference, Reeves said that “harsh global headwinds” and the effects of her Tory [...]
Farage confronts ‘dinosaur’ Bailey on Bank’s independence September 25, 2025 Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Richard Tice challenged Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Treasury losses from quantitative tightening (QT) at a showdown meeting on Thursday morning, with market instability partly caused by the programme and stablecoins regulation raised as subjects of discussion. Farage and Tice sat down with the Bank of England Governor [...]
Pat McFadden says lifting two-child benefit cap must be budgeted September 24, 2025 Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden has conceded that any plans to lift the two-child benefit cap must be “budgeted” amid growing calls from key Labour figures for the Tory-era policy to be scrapped. McFadden warned Labour backbenchers that any commitment to lift the cap would have to be funded by higher government revenue. “Everything [...]
Labour considers relaxing global talent visa in answer to Trump’s clampdown September 22, 2025 A UK government task force is considering plans to remove fee costs for the global talent visa after the US slapped a $100,000 charge on one of its key worker visas. On Friday night, President Trump put hundreds of thousands of workers on high alert after he signed an executive order adding a hefty business [...]
Labour warned Employment Rights Bill will damage jobs market September 17, 2025 Labour’s Employment Rights Bill must be changed immediately to prevent the UK’s jobs market crisis from worsening, top business groups have warned Peter Kyle in a last-ditch attempt to secure growth-focused changes. The government’s workers’ rights reforms have faced strong opposition from thousands of businesses across the UK, with bodies representing their interests claiming changes [...]
OBR ‘downgrades productivity’ in major pre-Budget blow to Rachel Reeves September 16, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has reportedly told Chancellor Rachel Reeves that it will downgrade productivity forecasts for the UK economy, blowing a hole in the public finances and making tax hikes all but guaranteed at this year’s November Budget. In another setback for the Labour government, the OBR has informed the Treasury that [...]
Goldman Sachs: Tax increases will not improve public finances September 10, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned by a leading Wall Street bank that hiking taxes later this year will not improve the state of public finances. Reeves is widely expected to raise taxes by at least £20bn at this year’s Autumn Budget, with property owners, gambling companies and pension pots likely to be hit with [...]
Kemi Badenoch: Labour presiding over ‘tax doom loop’ September 9, 2025 Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of leading the UK into an economic crisis of low growth and high spending, as she urged the government to prioritise deep welfare cuts over increasing taxes at the Autumn Budget. In a speech delivered to the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Hall, Badenoch called out the [...]
Labour deputy leader hopeful slams Rachel Reeves’ ‘excessive deference’ to OBR September 8, 2025 The prominent backbencher and former transport secretary Louise Haigh, who is a frontrunner to become the deputy leader of the Labour Party, has taken aim at Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ “excessive deference” to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and adhering to “arbitrary fiscal targets”. Senior officials in the Labour Party are set to agree on [...]
Reeves warned ‘sin taxes’ could fail to boost tax receipts September 1, 2025 Labour officials have been warned that plans to boost government revenue by raising “sin taxes” could be judged harshly by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) this year, with industry bosses calling on the Treasury to listen to “on-the-ground concerns” before making a final decision. Reports have suggested the government could raise gambling levies later [...]