Investors turn away from equity funds as UK continues to suffer outflows Markets Investors cut their exposure to equities last month, turning to bonds and money market funds, as UK-focused funds suffered another wave of withdrawals. UK investors withdrew £1bn from equity funds in October, up from £858m the prior month, marking the sixteenth month of outflows in the last seventeen, according to the latest fund flow index [...]
OBR warns Healey: Stealth taxes to blame for living standards slump Economics Stealth taxes are one of three main reasons that British households are set to suffer near-stagnant disposable income growth in the current decade, the government’s budget watchdog has said. Office for Budget Responsibility chief Professor David Miles said that fiscal drag, whereby a freeze on income thresholds pulled more people into higher tax rates as [...]
‘Punishing’ Autumn Budget tax trap set to deal further blow to HENRYs Personal Finance Thousands of UK workers are set to face an effective 64 per cent tax rate on their cash savings under a fresh tax raid launched by John Healey in his maiden Budget. The Chancellor confirmed he will hike taxes on savings by a further two per cent in April 2027, taking the rate to 44 [...]
Minimum wage hikes push up cost of employing a single worker ‘by over £4,000’ November 3, 2026 Minimum wage increases brought forward by the Labour government have pushed up the annual cost of employing a single worker by over £4,000, new analysis has shown, adding to a mountain of cost pressures facing businesses. Estimates by the Centre for Policy Studies, a free-market think tank, found that between 2024 and 2027 the annual [...]
Healey corrects Treasury colleague as he confirms employers are ‘working people’ November 3, 2026 John Healey has distanced himself from remarks made by his colleague, the Treasury minister Emma Reynolds, as he confirmed employers did count as working people. Over the weekend, Reynolds told broadcasters that she did not believe employers counted as “working people” under the Labour manifesto’s definition as “they are companies”. She added that there was [...]
Rachel Reeves claims £66bn tax raid made UK ‘stronger’ November 3, 2026 Rachel Reeves has launched a defence over her two tax-heavy Budgets, claiming they enabled a “stronger fiscal buffer” and shifted the “tax system towards rewarding work”. In her first major speech since been ousted as Chancellor, Reeves said she made “difficult choices” that were “not without controversy” but defended them as helping end the UK’s [...]
Finance chiefs warn Treasury against delaying crypto strategy November 2, 2026 Nearly a dozen industry bodies have warned the Chancellor not to delay plans to develop a central strategy on the regulation and adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets ahead of a pivotal vote in parliament. Bosses from the likes of Innovate Finance, The City UK and Tech UK urged John Healey to recommit to publishing [...]
What the Scotch whisky industry wants from government November 2, 2026 There was a mixture of dismay, exasperation and righteous indignation in the Scotch whisky industry when, in his first Budget as chancellor last Wednesday, John Healey ignored longstanding pleas for a fairer approach to excise duty on spirits. The Scotch Whisky Association’s CEO Mark Kent, said afterwards: “Another increase – the fourth in as many [...]
The UK’s future should be inside the EU, says Rachel Reeves November 1, 2026 Rachel Reeves has argued that the UK should return to the European Union, as Brexit has made the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”. In her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, Reeves has thrown her weight behind the prime minister’s decision to reopen the conversation surrounding the UK’s relationship with Europe. “There is [...]
Budget 2026: Healey grants HMRC sweeping powers to chase tax debts October 28, 2026 John Healey has given HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) more funding and sweeping powers “to collect overdue tax from those who can clearly afford to pay but ignore repeated contact”, in yet another clampdown on tax debts. The move marks a major expansion of the taxman’s power and comes amid the government’s push to stamp [...]