Business chiefs back Employment Rights Bill progression despite ‘concerns’ December 15, 2025 Business leaders have called on parliament to pass the Employment Rights Bill after it secured a compromise on day one rights for unfair dismissal. Six industry groups have written a joint letter to business secretary Peter Kyle stating their support for parliamentarians to pass the bill. The letter now puts pressure on crossbench peers and [...]
Employment Rights Bill: Labour moves to scrap compensation cap for unfair dismissal December 5, 2025 Businesses could face unlimited compensation for unfair dismissal claims as Labour seeks to appease unions after it abandoned ‘day one’ rights last week. After weeks of Employment Rights Bill ping-ponging over the controversial ‘day one’ rights, the government agreed last week to drop its pledge of ‘day one’ rights in exchange for rights over six [...]
UK and US agree to zero tariff deal on pharmaceuticals December 1, 2025 The government has agreed to a major deal with Washington that will see the UK become the only country to secure zero import tariffs on pharmaceutical products into the US for at least three years. The deal follows months of negotiations between the government and the Trump administration, after the June trade deal left the [...]
Labour U-turns on workers’ rights manifesto pledge November 27, 2025 The government has reversed its contentious plans to hand all new staff protection from unfair dismissal from day one, after months of warnings about the workers’ rights package from industry and fierce political resistance from the House of Lords. Under revised proposals announced by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on Thursday, the protection [...]
Labour faces setback as Lords boots back workers’ rights Bill October 29, 2025 The Employment Rights Bill failed to clear the final hurdle, as the House of Lords ping-ponged it back to MPs for further debate over disputed points, including the controversial granting of ‘day one’ rights. The highly contested Bill, which was a significant part of Labour’s manifesto, will see a major overhaul in the UK’s employment [...]
Labour’s payments regulation overhaul more ‘reshuffle than reform’ October 28, 2025 The Labour government’s plan for a payments system revolution has fallen flat, a top trade body has warned, despite the Treasury’s promise of an “ambitious rethink” of regulatory structure. Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her National Payments Vision (NPV) in her 2024 Mansion House address where she said the plan would include “decisive action to progress [...]
Labour to use tech to ‘shock’ UK economy into growth October 27, 2025 The UK’s Labour government is positioning deregulation and AI adoption as two key levers used to address its inherited ‘growth emergency’. Peter Kyle, business secretary and former tech secretary, recently doubled down on this strategy, articulating the dire need for the UK to aggressively “innovate its way out” of a low-growth cycle. “I’ve never known [...]
Exclusive: Labour mulls hefty fine for employers who stop unions entering offices every week October 23, 2025 The Labour government is considering a plan to give trade unions weekly access to businesses’ offices, with fines worth up to £75,000 to be dished out to bosses who bar them from entering. The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) is set to include powers for trade unions to gain “right of access” to workplaces, a perk [...]
Investment minister Jason Stockwood: I don’t want to be political October 22, 2025 Jason Stockwood insists he hadn’t been angling for a plumb ministerial job before the call from Keir Starmer asking for him to be investment minister came six weeks ago. The serial entrepreneur – and Grimsby Town Football Club co-owner – had, instead, been “moaning” about the paucity of politicians with genuine business experience, when the [...]
UK small businesses falling behind on AI, Google warns October 12, 2025 New research from Google has revealed a bottleneck in UK small business innovation. Over half, or 59 per cent, of SME owners say they have had to put ‘game changing’ ideas on hold over the past year, citing a lack of time to bring their concepts to life. For many, these stalled ideas are more [...]