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 [...]
Business leaders fear more tax rises are on the way November 28, 2025 Businesses leaders are bracing for more tax rises even following another hefty cash raid from Rachel Reeves in her second Autumn Budget. Over two thirds of top bosses have said they fear business leaders will be targeted with more tax hikes even after the Chancellor raised taxes to the tune of £26bn on Wednesday. A [...]
FTSE 100 Live: London house prices fall amid Budget jitters November 28, 2025 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets were still digesting the twist, turns and taxes of the Autumn Budget on Thursday, with ministers taking to the media to defend the £26bn cash raid. A number of businesses began weighing in, including Britain’s bookies, which were in the firing line when Reeves took to the [...]
Banks keep up their end of Rachel Reeves’ tax bargain November 27, 2025 The banking industry has given Rachel Reeves some much-needed ammunition as she attempts to defend her tax-heavy Autumn Budget. After being spared from a highly-anticipated cash grab, a fleet of banks announced a fresh pump of capital in the UK economy. Britain’s largest retail bank Lloyds Banking Group unveiled £35bn of new finance for 2026 [...]
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 [...]
Autumn Budget: BrewDog boss issues £1bn warning to Rachel Reeves November 19, 2025 The hospitality sector needs to sell almost one million extra pints every hour in order to cope with a £1bn cost surge thanks to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes, the chief executive of BrewDog has warned. James Taylor, who took on the job earlier this year, said Reeves needs to take ‘meaningful action’ because of [...]
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 [...]