‘China data theft’: 500,000 Britons’ details put for sale online Tech The government has revealed that confidential medical data belonging to half a million Brits was put up for a sale on a website in China. Data stored in UK Biobank, the world’s most comprehensive set of information on health that is used by scientists for research, was put on Alibaba. The data did not contain [...]
Farage fronts £2m bitcoin purchase despite price tumble Politics Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has fronted a £2m purchase of bitcoin by the Kwasi Kwarteng-led crypto company Stack BTC despite the cryptocurrency’s price tumbling over recent months. Farage was filmed in a promotional video for the crypto reserves firm buying around £2m of Bitcoin, with the business stating that the political leader was the first [...]
Reform UK pledge energy tax cut in swipe at Labour Politics Robert Jenrick has said Reform UK would strip VAT from energy bills months after the government flirted with the £2bn tax cut, deepening the party’s row with Labour. The “shadow chancellor” said Reform would strip VAT and green levies from household energy bills if it came to power, thereby saving households an estimated £200. Party [...]
Mel Stride vows ‘Big Bang’ as he targets careful City March 6, 2026 Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride is set to promise a new “Big Bang” on City regulation in a speech at a Conservative conference this weekend harking back to Margaret Thatcher’s financial reforms. Stride is set to decry the lack of risk-taking across the UK economy and suggest regulation has been a “vast yoke” on businesses. [...]
Reform’s sovereign wealth pitch risks raiding pensions not reviving growth March 2, 2026 Reform’s Richard Tice’s plan to consolidate local council pension schemes fundamentally misunderstands the nature of fiduciary duty, says Tim Focas Behind the rhetoric of Reform’s proposal to consolidate local council pension schemes into a near £500bn sovereign wealth fund lies a major misunderstanding of what these pension assets are and who they exist to serve. [...]
Reform vow to create new ‘wealth fund’ using pension schemes February 23, 2026 Reform UK has pledged to create a new “British Sovereign Wealth Fund” using local government pension schemes as part of Richard Tice’s first policy package as the party’s spokesman for business, trade and energy. Reform has vowed to wrap various arms of government, including housing and energy, into one office that focuses on growth, job [...]
Kemi Badenoch tells Tory MPs: Don’t damage us from within January 19, 2026 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has warned backbenchers not to damage the party “from within” as she called a meeting of MPs on Monday afternoon to address defections to Reform UK. Last week, Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell, the shadow minister for foreign affairs under Badenoch’s leadership, announced they had quit to join Nigel Farage’s Reform. [...]
Richard Tice pledges ‘Big Reform’ of City regulation November 5, 2025 Richard Tice has called on City leaders to draw up proposals to radically cut regulation and introduce an overhaul of major financial institutions across the UK as he called for a “Big Reform” of financial services. In an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s Big Bang programme on deregulation, the Reform UK deputy leader set out the [...]
FCA’s diversity requirements go ‘far beyond remit’, report warns October 21, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other public sector diversity initiatives go “far beyond” remits set by legal requirements, a report has warned, prompting Reform UK to vow to reset systems to reward “talent and merit alone”. Analysis in a paper by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has suggested that diversity policies advanced by [...]
Nigel Farage vows to make savings before tax cuts October 13, 2025 Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has vowed to make sweeping spending cuts before cutting taxes for Brits while hitting out at “cretins” for imposing too much regulation in the City in comments that reflect his moves to take on economic policy head-on. Farage said the party’s next manifesto would be “fully-costed”, a statement that reflects the [...]