On this day: Britain’s youngest ever Prime Minister is born Opinion A prodigy and exception, William Pitt the Younger was Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister. On this day in 1759, he was born, writes Eliot Wilson
‘Enough to keep investors interested’: SSE charges up UK investment Markets SSE hailed a record year of investment as it aims to end UK dependence on global volatile energy markets. The electricity infrastructure company invested £3.6bn in the 2025/26 financial year, up from £2.9bn the prior year, as it looks to ramp up the UK’s electricity grid and create lower energy bills. The FTSE 100 group [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dive, oil jumps as US-Iran strikes crush peace hopes Markets Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The US and Iran are back to exchanging fire in a major blow to hopes of peace in the Middle East. Tehran struck an American airbase overnight in its retaliation for the US striking a military site that it said “posed a threat to US forces [...]
Tony Blair is the only sensible voice left in Labour May 28, 2026 After reading Tony Blair’s essay on the state of Britain (and the state of the Labour party) I was struck by the realisation that large parts of it sounded as if they’d come straight out of one of my own columns. Regular readers will know that I’ve often used this slot to point out the contradiction [...]
Local authorities thwart housebuilding with ‘manifestly unfair’ council tax raid on developers May 28, 2026 Cash-strapped local authorities across Britain are thwarting efforts to increase housebuilding by hitting property developers with steep council tax bills as soon as their homes are listed as complete, an influential industry body has warned. In a paper shared with City AM, the boss of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) accused local councils of slapping [...]
Starmer’s social media ban puts emotions above data May 28, 2026 By parading grieving parents through Downing Street, Number 10 risks presenting a false picture of the dangers of social media.
Ask the expert: Should I invest instead of buying a home? May 28, 2026 Fidelity personal financial specialist Marianna Hunt is back on hand to answer your burning questions, and today a reader wants to know whether to take the plunge and buy a property or invest. Q. I’m in my late 20s and have managed to save around £20,000, which I initially thought I’duse as a deposit to [...]
Is it time to acknowledge Brazil’s investment opportunities? May 27, 2026 Brazil reclaimed its place in the world’s top 10 economies in 2023 and has retained it ever since. Now, in the second quarter of 2026, its stock market has become the most successful in South America, helping the country become the main centre for capital in the region. Sao Paolo is home to the B3 [...]
‘It’s important we increase spending’: Treasury minister defends triple lock pension May 27, 2026 A Treasury minister has defended the triple lock pension as a sustainable policy despite former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair attacking the benefit for being unaffordable. Dan Tomlinson said it was “important we have the triple lock and that we increase spending on pensioners”, doubling down on the controversial manifesto commitment that has been criticised [...]
Tony Blair accuses Starmer of damaging economy by clinging to manifesto pledges May 27, 2026 Sir Tony Blair has taken a swipe at Sir Keir Starmer for sticking to campaign pledges from Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which he says are economically damaging and should have been dropped “right at the outset.” In a 5,000-word essay published by his think tank, Labour’s longest serving PM pointed out that Budgets put forward by [...]