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 [...]
Big banks SME lending comeback slowed down by Budget jitters December 11, 2025 High street banks’ return to small business lending slowed in the third quarter of 2025 after the chaos on the road to the Autumn Budget dampened activity in the economy. Big banks dished out nearly £4.2bn in total loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the three months to 30 September – a level [...]
Strap a rocket to UK banks or watch the City drift, shadow chancellor warns December 4, 2025 Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has called for a tearing down of burdensome City regulation to power up the financial services sector and avoid it losing status. The Tory MP said the pendulum has swung “too far in favour of trying to iron… [and] squeeze risk out of the system”. Stride called for a “bonfire of [...]
Reeves ends Budget week with more unanswered questions than she started with November 29, 2025 It was supposed to be the week that ended months of uncertainty. But Rachel Reeves has finished Budget week with more questions to answer than she started with. Not all of it was bad. Increasing the fiscal headroom was prudent. Cutting back motability spending was sensible. Removing a loophole that allowed private hire firms to [...]
Autumn Budget Live: Wealthy, landlords and pensions hit in £26bn tax raid November 26, 2025 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. In a shocking turn of events the UK fiscal watchdog has accidentally released the economic forecasts – intended to be published after the Budget – before the Chancellor even took to the despatch box. Rachel Reeves has raised taxes by £26bn in her second Budget, which follows on [...]
Banks back in Reeves’ tax targets amid Budget whiplash November 18, 2025 Britain’s banking giants are back in the Budget crosshairs as Chancellor Rachel Reeves mulls a tax raid on lenders’ profits. Banks had been expected to be spared from a tax grab in the forthcoming Budget due to Reeves’ inclination to protect the financial services sector, following a concerted lobbying effort by top finance chiefs. But [...]
Rachel Reeves panics markets by ditching plans for income tax hike November 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves is understood to have scrapped plans to break Labour’s manifesto and hike income tax in the forthcoming Autumn Budget. The Chancellor was poised to hike income tax by 2p whilst cutting national insurance by the same amount in a move that would break Labour’s pledge to not raise taxes on ‘working people.’ Over [...]
Tax row erupts as Reeves tells watchdog she will break manifesto November 7, 2025 The Labour government is split in a fresh tax row after Rachel Reeves reportedly told the fiscal watchdog she will raise income tax in her forthcoming Autumn Budget – a move that will break a key manifesto pledge. The Chancellor is said to have informed the Office for Budget Responsibility that an increase to income [...]
Pound falls to 2023 low against Euro as Budget jitters spike October 29, 2025 The Pound suffered a sharp drop on Wednesday as investors braced for an economic hit in Rachel Reeves’ forthcoming Budget. Sterling’s downturn came as the UK’s fiscal watchdog looks set to hand a hefty downgrade to the country’s productivity growth. On Wednesday morning, the pound fell 0.4 per cent against the Euro to 1.13 – [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves must avoid tax encore for retail, HMV boss warns October 29, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman sits down with top industry names for a Budget Briefing. This week, chief executive of HMV joins a chorus of warnings to give the retail sector some reprieve. As high street music retailer HMV breezes into the all-important golden quarter, boss Phillip Halliday is eyeing a chart-topper [...]