Labour U-turns on inheritance tax raid after year of farmer protests December 23, 2025 The Labour government will raise the inheritance tax relief threshold for farms in another dramatic U-turn following a year of backlash from rural communities. On Tuesday, the Treasury and Department for Food and Rural Affairs said it would increase the Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs threshold to £2.5m from £1m when it is introduced in [...]
Bet365 boss banks £260m payout despite profit slide December 23, 2025 Billionaire founder and chief executive of Bet365, Denise Coates, saw her pay surge last year, despite the firm’s profit going south. Coates was paid a salary of £104m in the year to March, according to newly filed accounts, while cash dividends to family shareholders tripled to £313.6m. As the firm’s majority owner, Coates was entitled [...]
Property slump hits half of London as prime boroughs lead the decline December 23, 2025 London has a “two-speed” market, as house prices are falling in about half of London’s boroughs, with the most expensive boroughs hit the hardest. The average house price in London for October was £547,000, down 2.4 per cent from the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data also showed that [...]
Tears, scandal, c*ck-ups and conspiracy: Westminster’s worst moments of 2025 December 23, 2025 Westminster never disappoints. When Keir Starmer came into Downing Street, he promised that politics would “tread more lightly” on the lives of everyday people. He was likely referring to the farce of Partygate, leadership battles and political blunders under successive Tory governments. But Labour have got caught up in less than pleasant situations of their [...]
Business confidence ticked up after Budget, Lloyds Bank says December 23, 2025 Business confidence inched up at the end of 2025, according to a new survey, as firms were brought some relief and clarity after the Autumn Budget. Lloyds Banking Group’s latest Business Barometer found business confidence etched up 10 points by the end of 2025 when compared with the beginning of the year. Half of this [...]
‘Spectre of recession’ looms with growth set to dim in 2026 December 22, 2025 The government is facing a critical warning over the looming “spectre of recession” after economic growth stalled in the second half of 2025 and is expected to wane in the new year. On Monday, fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) downgraded the economy’s second quarter expansion to a sluggish 0.2 per cent [...]
Private sector slump to drag on to Spring 2026, businesses say December 22, 2025 UK business leaders have warned that the sharp downturn in the private sector is likely to continue until Spring 2026, after firms put plans for future investment on ice in the run-up to the Labour government’s Autumn Budget. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) anticipates private sector output to fall in the fourth quarter after [...]
UK economic growth downgraded for second quarter December 22, 2025 Growth in the UK economy was revised downwards on Monday after fresh figures revealed economy expanded less than initially thought in the second quarter. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) cut the UK’s economic growth in the three months to June to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent previously. The third quarter’s sluggish 0.1 [...]
Know your OBR from your CPS? Take City AM’s politics quiz of 2025 December 20, 2025 Welcome to City AM‘s politics quiz of 2025, a year where Keir Starmer said his best moment in office was walking into Downing Street, Kemi Badenoch got Northern Ireland’s voting record on Brexit wrong and Nigel Farage admitted he did not own property in his constituency. There have been many other errors, blunders and mishaps [...]
Hospitality business rates set to nearly double by 2028 despite government tax cut claims December 20, 2025 Hospitality venues across England will see their business rates bill nearly double in the next three years as a result of the government’s controversial overhaul of the commercial property tax. A fresh analysis of government figures found that most pubs, restaurants and hotels will pay over £32,000 more on property tax by 2028, despite ministers [...]