Britain must invest in defence AI to secure its future December 5, 2025 The UK has the talent and industrial base to compete in defence tech, but leveraging these effectively will require more than investment.
Britain is the worst place in Europe to get rich December 5, 2025 Success has become a liability in Britain, and uncertainty the defining feature of our economic landscape – it is little wonder that our most dynamic founders, investors and wealth creators are looking for a change of scenery, says Stephen Kenny In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor said twice that she had made the tax system [...]
Stride criticises FCA for not investigating Treasury December 4, 2025 Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has criticised the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s decision to hold back from launching an investigation into whether the Treasury engaged in market manipulation before the Budget, adding that there was a risk of a “precedent” being set where confidential information is leaked “without consequence”. Earlier on Thursday, FCA chief executive Nikhil [...]
Relief for fintech startups as government plans new short-term FCA licences December 4, 2025 Fintech startups could be about to start trading much sooner after the government signalled plans to issue temporary licences in advance of getting full accreditation. Startups often suffer delays of months or even over a year as they wait for regulators at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to grant them authorisation, during which they burn [...]
Lloyds boss: Forcing banks to hoard capital is slowing UK growth December 4, 2025 The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has called on the government to take its deregulation mission further to ramp up economic growth. Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, welcomed recent regulatory progress, including the Chancellor’s Leeds Reforms package, but added “they are just at the start – there is more to do”. “The [...]
Growing threats to UK financial stability December 4, 2025 What keeps you up at night? For the governor of the Bank of England it’s a long list of threats to the UK’s financial system – so let’s take a look at them. The Bank of England’s latest financial stability report makes for a sobering read. It says “risks to financial stability have increased during [...]
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 [...]
Equity fund outflows hit fresh record as Budget uncertainty triggered UK selloff December 4, 2025 Equity funds have suffered their deepest and most prolonged bout of outflows on record with investors pulling more than £10bn in the past six months, fresh figures have revealed. UK-focused funds were the hardest-hit in November after haemorrhaging almost £847m, according to data compiled by global funds network Calastone, with analysts pointing to protracted Budget [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Budget to send borrowing costs soaring; New AIM IPO December 4, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Sir Keir Starmer has asked the British public to judge his premiership on the government’s ability to “make people feel better off”. Well, in the capital the Prime Minister shouldn’t be expecting a warm reception from young Brits, who are feeling the pinch of the [...]
The Leaky War: How Rachel Reeves and the OBR came to blows December 4, 2025 Between 5:16am and 11:30am on the day of the Budget, as Rachel Reeves was putting the finishing touches to her House of Commons speech, 7 audacious internet users made 44 attempts to break into the servers of Britain’s fiscal watchdog to get an early glimpse of her plans. An hour before Reeves stood up in [...]