Starmer and Macron hope for ‘progress’ on defence and migration at summit July 5, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have said they hope to make “good progress” on issues including migration and defence when they meet next week, Number 10 has said. The two leaders will hold a summit when the French President travels to the UK for a state visit next week, with the two leaders speaking [...]
Exclusive: Starmer and Macron assemble top bosses for summit July 4, 2025 Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are planning to bring together 20 of their countries’ top business leaders for a cross-sector gathering as part of the French President’s first state visit to the UK, City AM can reveal. Set to take place on Wednesday, chief executives and founders from France and Britain will convene in London [...]
Rachel Reeves at risk of becoming shortest-serving Labour Chancellor July 2, 2025 Rachel Reeves is at risk of becoming the shortest-serving Labour Chancellor in history after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declined to give her a public show of support. The PM was facing questions at Prime Minister’s Questions today over his handling of a welfare reform package which has been stripped of key elements to limit [...]
Government announces concessions to welfare bill in ‘screeching U-turn’ June 27, 2025 People who currently receive the personal independence payment (Pip) will continue to do so after the government made concessions to Labour rebels on controversial welfare reforms. A letter from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to MPs said adjustments to universal credit would also see incomes protected. The announcement comes after crisis talks with backbenchers, [...]
Starmer thanks business for shouldering tax burden June 26, 2025 Keir Starmer has thanked the British business community for bearing the brunt of his government’s tax raid in last year’s Budget, acknowledging he had asked a lot of UK plc since entering office. Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, the Prime Minister said the £23bn hike to employer national insurance contributions (NICS) [...]
UK cement sector ‘at risk of cracking’ despite industrial strategy June 23, 2025 Production in the UK cement sector is rapidly declining, according to industry leaders, despite government efforts to slash high electricity prices as part of its industrial strategy published on Monday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer appealed to thousands of manufacturers across the country with plans to reduce energy bills by 25 per cent from 2027 after [...]
UK business confidence bounces back from Trump’s tariff blow May 30, 2025 UK business confidence rallied in May as global financial markets made their recovery from President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught. Lloyds Bank business barometer jumped 11 points over the last month to 50 per cent. – marking a nine month high. The lender surveys 1,200 companies and weighs up the percentage of firms that have a [...]
Starmer meets BlackRock’s Larry Fink for growth talks May 20, 2025 The Prime Minister this morning met the boss of the world’s largest money manager, in the latest such conversation as part of ministers’ growth agenda. Sir Keir Starmer held discussions with Larry Fink, who leads the $11.6tn giant BlackRock. Fink was pictured leaving Downing Street on Tuesday morning. This follows on from the American billionaire’s [...]
Starmer’s trade deal triumphs fail to impress UK voters May 13, 2025 With Sir Keir Starmer’s approval ratings languishing below those of both the Reform UK and Conservative leaders, Downing Street would have hoped that signing trade deals with India and the US last week could have turned the dial on the PM’s unpopularity. However, despite the diplomatic coups voters appeared unmoved by Starmer’s success on the world [...]
Free Thinking: Can Trump’s trade deal turn the UK economy around? May 12, 2025 In this week’s edition of Free Thinking, City AM Opinion and Features Editor Alys Denby ask if Donald Trump’s free trade deal is the answer to Britain’s economic woes or a political gesture that leaves us worse off?