Analysis: Why Reeves faces political pressure over the Spring Statement March 25, 2025 Over the next 24 hours, Rachel Reeves will be putting the finishing touches to Wednesday’s Spring Statement. It marks her second fiscal event as Chancellor, and – despite the promised manifesto commitment of “one major fiscal event a year” – the economic backdrop, and wider political pressure, makes it hard to see the contents of [...]
Small businesses to offload Reeves’ tax hikes onto customers March 25, 2025 Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have taken steps to combat the Chancellor’s tax hikes as they brace for further changes in Reeves’ Spring Statement. Fresh research from Grant Thornton showed 71 per cent of SMEs have formed plans to offload rising employment costs onto consumers – a 15 per cent increase from December. Almost seven [...]
UK consumer confidence is tanking warns KPMG March 25, 2025 Three in five Brits believe the UK economy is worsening, a new survey by KPMG has shown, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement risks failing to lift people’s spirits. Reeves is set to announce policies aimed at economic business confidence at her Spring Statement on Wednesday but a new survey suggests consumers are increasingly downbeat [...]
UK tech eyes tax moves in Spring Statement March 25, 2025 The UK’s tech sector is awaiting Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, as businesses look for support from the government on AI investment, digitalised healthcare, and scam prevention. Industry heavyweights are urging the Chancellor to consider targeted tax incentives and upskilling initiatives. They have also called for stronger regulatory frameworks to support growth and innovation amid burgeoning [...]
‘Corporate purpose? It went too far’, says man behind Britain’s Davos March 25, 2025 John O’Brien founded Anthropy – an annual gathering of corporate and political luminaries dubbed ‘Britain’s Davos’ – to help the UK ‘build back better’ from the pandemic. On the eve of its third instalment in the Eden Project’s greenery, Ali Lyon asks the ex-army captain, “Has it failed?” It is October 2022, and a group [...]
Reeves crosses her fingers and hopes for growth March 25, 2025 Ahead of last October’s Budget, ministers allowed months of speculation as to what would be unveiled, and the never-ending drumbeat of doom and gloom talked the economy to a standstill. Largely as a result of the contents and consequences of that Budget, economic growth has since evaporated and now all eyes are on this week’s [...]
FCA chief vows to support growth agenda ‘with urgency’ March 25, 2025 The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the watchdog is “going so much further” on its mission to boost growth in the UK, amid pressure from the government for regulators to cut red tape. Writing in City AM this morning, Nikhil Rathi said the FCA had presented the Prime Minister with [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund slammed for ‘completely misleading’ rebrand March 25, 2025 The government has been accused of “gaslighting the British public” over its National Wealth Fund as the Treasury committee announced on Monday it had launched an inquiry into the new body. Originally a fixture of Labour’s 2024 manifesto – the National Wealth Fund was to consolidate the British Business Bank and the UK Infrastructure Bank, [...]
Reeves will have to get real and raise taxes March 25, 2025 Despite frantic denials, the debt burden means Rachel Reeves will soon have to revisit promises she made on tax in the care-free days of opposition, says Vince Cable The Chancellor has many competing priorities on Wednesday: a big rise in defence spending; keeping the NHS afloat; honouring promises not to raise taxes on income and [...]
Will a tax raid tomorrow prove too tempting for Reeves? March 25, 2025 Emergency Budgets are a bad idea, but with the economic changing fast Reeves may not have the luxury of waiting until Autumn to raise taxes, says Tim Sarson Last autumn, after a long, long summer of speculation and rumour, our newly installed Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered what she promised would be the [...]