‘Staggering’ – Public sector borrowing in August jumps to highest in five years September 19, 2025 Public sector borrowing in August has jumped to its highest level in five years, raising fears of huge tax hikes in the autumn to balance the books. Borrowing – the difference between total public sector spending and income – was £18bn in August 2025, £3.5bn more than last year and the highest since 2020, when [...]
Class action boom hampers Britain’s economic expansion September 18, 2025 The surge in cases could cost the UK economy up to £18bn, diverting resources away from innovation and undermining growth, according to a new Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) report. A report, authored by lawyer Stephen Dnes, warns that the UK’s competition class action system has seen an explosion of speculative lawsuits, with around one [...]
Interest rates could fall to three per cent – City AM Shadow MPC September 18, 2025 Interest rates could fall as low as three per cent, according to a group of economists in City AM‘s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), but a rocky year for the UK economy could keep borrowing costs high. The Bank of England voted to hold interest rates on Thursday at four per cent due to sticky [...]
Was this actually Starmer’s best week? September 18, 2025 £150bn of investment has been pledged by US giants, itching to pour their money into the UK – including more than £30bn to turbocharge our artificial intelligence base. The choreography was masterful, and I don’t just mean the military and Royal welcome dolled out to the Trumps and their entourage, although it was pretty spectacular. [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates and slows down QT to £70bn September 18, 2025 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to hold interest rates amid sticky inflation, with a decision to slow down its quantitative tightening (QT) process also made in light of febrile markets raising borrowing costs. MPC members made a dual decision at its September meeting on interest rates and the sale of [...]
Former IoD boss banned as a director over Covid bounce back loan abuse September 18, 2025 A former boss of the Institute of Directors has been banned as a company director after being found to have breached Covid loan rules. Anna Daroy, who served as interim Chief Operating Officer and later as interim Director General of the Institute of Directors from October 2018 to November 2019, has been accused of obtaining [...]
Savers stick to cash amid fears over investment risks September 18, 2025 Fears over falling stock prices are prompting UK savers to avoid investing, new research has found, with Brits preferring to park their earnings in cash. According to online trading platform IG, three in five savers believe any form of retail investing is too risky, despite government and industry figures’ encouragement to increase their exposure to [...]
The only way to make HS2 cheaper? Build HS3 September 18, 2025 It’s a basic fact of economics that the more efficiently you make something, the easier it is to bring down the price. Among the best-known examples is the Ford Model T, one of the top-selling cars in the 20th century with more than 15 million produced. The manufacturing process became so efficient, and each car’s [...]
Labour’s AI ambitions will clash with its housebuilding targets September 18, 2025 It was all smiles on Tuesday as Chancellor Rachel Reeves became the latest PPE grad politician to don her PPE robes, in a visit to a construction site in Waltham Cross where she unveiled Google’s new data centre. The opening was a moment of celebration, as Google announced another £5bn investment into the UK, a [...]
Autumn budget and inflation worries drag down consumer confidence September 18, 2025 Consumer confidence slumped in September as concerns about the state of the UK economy and the possibility of higher taxes weighed on Brits’ minds. Expectations of the state of the overall economy worsened to -36 in September, down from -32 in August, according to the British Retail Consortium. Brits’ personal financial situations also slipped to [...]