Reeves takes comfort in the promise of future growth May 21, 2025 The government is having a good week. The Prime Minister, in particular, has a spring in his step following his UK-EU ‘reset’ summit. Addressing MPs in the House of Commons yesterday he seemed to have grown taller. True, it only takes a glance at pictures from last week of Starmer meeting Albania’s 6ft 7in leader [...]
Reeves’ risky borrowing policies prompt fresh tax hike fears May 20, 2025 Tax hike fears are gathering pace as rising borrowing costs are set to wipe out around half of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ small £9.9bn headroom, a leading economics consultancy has warned. Reeves made around £14bn in spending cuts at her Spring Statement two months ago but left herself with one of the slimmest fiscal buffers on [...]
Insolvency levels hit highest level in eight months in Awful April May 20, 2025 April insolvency levels soared to their highest level in in eight months, official data has shown, reflecting businesses’ helplessness in the face of higher employment costs and the looming threat of President Trump’s tariffs. Over 2,000 companies collapsed last month, with most owners filing for voluntary liquidation and some 105 firms going into administration. If [...]
Starmer meets BlackRock’s Larry Fink for growth talks May 20, 2025 The Prime Minister this morning met the boss of the world’s largest money manager, in the latest such conversation as part of ministers’ growth agenda. Sir Keir Starmer held discussions with Larry Fink, who leads the $11.6tn giant BlackRock. Fink was pictured leaving Downing Street on Tuesday morning. This follows on from the American billionaire’s [...]
Cash ISA limit reduction abandoned by Reeves May 20, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the government will not cut the £20,000 limit on cash ISA deposits, after speculations that the limit could be slashed to encourage investment. Speaking to the BBC, Reeves said: “I’m not going to reduce the limit of what people can put into an ISA, but I do want people [...]
Trio of trade deals puts UK in better position “than any other country,” Rachel Reeves says May 20, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the UK is now in a better place on trade “than any other country in the world” after securing new trade agreements with India, the US and the EU this month. Reeves said the agreements have “come along like buses,” and that the government’s next targets for trade deals are [...]
Lloyds Bank boss: No evidence of harm in motor finance scandal May 20, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group’s chief executive faced a grilling from the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday over the lender’s historical exposure to the motor finance market. Charlie Nunn, the bank’s boss, said there was “no evidence of harm” from the firm’s operations in the car financing market. The scandal in the sector headed to the Supreme [...]
Reeves must provide ‘more stable’ tax policy, finance bosses say May 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves is facing pressure to provide a “clearer, more stable tax environment,” when she delivers her growth strategy in July. The Chancellor is once again in the spotlight after a damning report from finance bosses indicated the industry was prepped to support growth ambitions, but structural barriers were holding them back. Top players in [...]
Natwest and Lloyds to cash in as Reeves hints at ring-fencing reform May 19, 2025 Rachel Reeves has told top bank bosses she is “open-minded” to ditch the ring-fencing regime imposed on major banks. The Chancellor was lobbied by the chiefs of HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander to scrap the 15-year-old legislation last month. Lenders slammed the system – which requires firms to keep their retail bank operations separate from [...]
Inflation set to ramp up after ‘Awful April’ May 19, 2025 Inflation is expected to have risen above three per cent last month in data which will reflect the costly impacts of what has been dubbed ‘Awful April’ due to tax rises and bill hikes. A Bloomberg poll of economists has predicted inflation to come in at 3.3 per cent, a sharp spike from March when [...]