JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon to meet Chancellor John Healey ahead of Budget September 9, 2026 JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon is set to meet John Healey today ahead of the new Chancellor’s first Budget, City AM understands. The American banker – regarded as one of the most influential figures in global finance – is due to meet Healey in London for the first time following a phone call exchange last [...]
Unleash growth or you’ll have to hike taxes even higher, FTSE 100 boss warns Healey September 8, 2026 The government must unleash growth in the forthcoming Budget or ministers will be forced to hike taxes even higher at future fiscal events, the boss of the largest player in the UK pensions market has warned. Andy Briggs, the chief executive of Standard Life, told City AM the UK’s ageing population leaves the Chancellor John [...]
Healey’s adviser warns ‘you won’t grow the economy just by spending more’ September 3, 2026 John Healey’s entrepreneurship adviser has warned that growth cannot be achieved by government spending and policy announcements, in a rebuke to the Chancellor and Andy Burnham as they draw up their first budget. Alexandra Depledge, the founder of property start-up Resi, who has been reappointed as entrepreneurship adviser to the Chancellor, wrote on Linkedin that [...]
Services sector cuts jobs for nearly two years under cost pressures September 3, 2026 Employment in the UK’s services sector dropped for the 23rd consecutive month in August as businesses maintained hiring freezes and trimmed headcounts following cost pressures. S&P’s latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the services industry – which is closely monitored by economists – revealed the sector has continued its longest continuous stretch of workforce reductions [...]
Retailers urge Healey to unwind national insurance hike to boost jobs September 3, 2026 Retailers have called on Chancellor John Healey to unwind some of the national insurance reforms made by his predecessor in a bid to tackle the youth joblessness crisis. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, has written to the Chancellor, urging him to unwind “soaring employment costs”. [...]
How the Treasury got ‘fed up’ with the Bank of England’s payments plan September 2, 2026 The government moved to more closely monitor the Bank of England’s overhaul of the UK’s payments system after growing frustrated with the sluggish pace of the plans, industry figures have said. The Treasury revealed last week it would begin tracking the central bank’s progress on payments and digital currencies by introducing a new secondary objective [...]
Stealth taxes intensify London first time buyer struggle September 1, 2026 A raft of government stealth taxes is driving the London property market even further into unaffordability for first time buyers, fresh research has found. Freezes in tax bands and thresholds means the average home in the capital now accounts for an eye-watering 14.7 times average earnings after accounting for stamp duty, national insurance and income [...]
‘Big Brother’: HMRC agents to target mansions with ponies and pools August 31, 2026 HMRC agents are set to inspect homes with ponies, scenic views and balconies in order to value homes for the “mansion tax”. Officials will be sent to properties to consider architectural styles, numbers of bedrooms and whether homes have swimming pools or tennis courts before determining whether homes should be taxed at a higher rate. [...]
‘War on wealth creation’: capital gains tax raid would lose government money, Tories argue August 28, 2026 A fresh capital gains tax raid on Britain’s wealthiest would ultimately lose the government money, according to new Conservative analysis of Treasury data. Internal government modelling suggests that the top rate of capital gains tax (CGT) is already too high and hiking it further would lead to lower tax receipts. Figures presented to the Labour [...]
Lloyds and Natwest flaunt social credentials as fears grow of Burnham tax grab August 26, 2026 Lloyds and Natwest are flaunting their community credentials and pledging a raft of new social investment initiatives as fears grow that Prime Minister Andy Burnham will launch a punishing tax raid on the sector with the government’s first Budget. The two lenders are among a group of top UK banks looking to prove they can [...]