CMA handed ‘strategic steer’ as government pushes pro-growth agenda May 15, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has been handed a “strategic steer” from Downing Street as the government pushes regulators to adopt its pro-growth agenda. The strategic steer, which is issued to regulators each parliament, sets out the government’s priorities for regulators and how they engage with the private sector. According to the Treasury, the steer “resets [...]
Boost for Rachel Reeves as UK economy booms in first quarter May 15, 2025 The UK economy surged by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, official data has shown, suggesting firms boosted production ahead of Rachel Reeves’s tax rises in April and the threat of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Fresh data provided by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy grew [...]
China could gatecrash Starmer’s diplomatic party May 15, 2025 Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that the UK doesn’t need to choose between strengthening economic and trade ties with the US and deepening them with the EU. A few weeks ago, concern was growing in Whitehall that if the UK didn’t strike a deal with America then the chance of a tariff rapprochement could be [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund hounded with calls for clarity May 15, 2025 Labour’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) faced renewed pressure on Wednesday as the Treasury Committee kicked off its inquiry into the new body. The NWF’s ability to boost economic growth across the country was the subject of questions posed by MPs to investment industry leaders. Its status as a “wealth fund” came under fire against comparisons [...]
The Capitalist: This isn’t just blackmail, it’s M&S blackmail May 15, 2025 Embarrassing Ed Miliband, dream dinner party guests and window taxes, catch up with the latest gossip from the Square Mile M&S is clearly playing by the book in its response to the crippling cyber attack launched on its systems over Easter, with talk of a £100m insurance claim to help them get over the losses. [...]
Public trust in pensions declines for the first time in five years May 14, 2025 The government is facing a fresh headache in its pension reform plans as new research shows trust in the industry declined for the first time in five years. Average trust in the industry has dipped to 5.23 out of 10, from a peak of 5.26, according to the fifth Trust and Confidence Index released by [...]
Rank: Grosvenor casino owner hits jackpot as laws relaxed May 14, 2025 Rank Group – the owner of UK-based chain Grosvenor casinos – is set to ramp up the number of gaming machines in its casinos after the government said it would relax gambling laws. Shares in the group soared nearly eight per cent on Wednesday morning. The firm said the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling [...]
Is Rachel Reeves breaking up with the OBR? May 14, 2025 City AM’s City Editor, Simon Hunt, unpicks the stories that get the Square Mile talking Rachel Reeves will do anything to keep the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on side. Or so we thought. The chancellor made a number of last-minute changes to her Spring Statement to ensure her fiscal headroom stayed on target, including [...]
UK jobs markets suffers a fainting fit…will the patient get worse? May 14, 2025 We now know that since the start of the year the number of payrolled employees in the UK has fallen by around 100,000 – adding to the emerging narrative that when it comes to employment, things are going in the wrong direction. Fewer people employed, fewer vacancies and fewer jobs likely to be created. The [...]
What Rachel Reeves can learn from Geoffrey Howe May 14, 2025 In 1981, Geoffrey Howe defied Keynesian orthodoxy by tightening fiscal policy during a recession – and completely changed the narrative about the British economy. Reeves must do the same, but all she offers is doom and gloom, says Paul Ormerod The UK economy is either already in or very close to a recession. Despite Rachel [...]