Labour accused of ignoring rental housing February 27, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned she must “take sharp notice” of the collapse of John Lewis’ housing venture by investing immediately in the build-to-rent sector. The Association for Rental Living (ARL), the body which represents the build-to-rent sector, has sent an open letter to senior Labour figures calling on the government to develop a [...]
Legal battle over Labour’s inheritance tax reliefs set for March hearing February 27, 2026 The legal challenge to proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) has been listed for an urgent two-day hearing next month. The proposed changes to APR and the BPR represent one of the biggest shifts in UK IHT policy in decades, following the government’s initial increase of the threshold to [...]
Nearly 1m young Brits not in work as Reeves told to help youth February 26, 2026 The number of Neets, or young people not in education, employment or training, has increased to nearly 1m, official data has indicated, heightening fears over the long-term health of the UK economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has suggested there were 957,000 people aged between 16 and 24 not working as of December in [...]
Watch: Spotlight turns on Reeves – and the state of our economy February 26, 2026 We haven’t heard much from Rachel Reeves so far this year – probably a deliberate strategy – but is the Chancellor set to make waves next week at the Spring Statement? Rachel Reeves didn’t have a great 2025. UK quarterly GDP growth peaked in Q1 at 0.7 per cent as firms front-loaded their activity to [...]
Family visas plummet as Mahmood targets migrant dependants February 26, 2026 The number of family-related visas plummeted over 2025 as the government clamped down on dependants joining migrant workers and students. In fresh data published by the Home Office on Thursday, it was revealed that just 67,000 visas were offered to spouses, children and other dependants of migrants. It represented a sharp 22 per cent drop [...]
LSEG unveils biggest-ever buyback as firm fends off Elliott and AI threat February 26, 2026 The operator of the London Stock Exchange has unveiled its biggest-ever buyback as the company fends off the dual threats of activist investor pressure and shareholder fears over the rise of AI. LSEG said it would buy back at least £3bn of shares over the next twelve months, adding to the £2.1bn buyback carried out [...]
Made to be broken? Reeves urged to keep fiscal rules February 26, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to keep her fiscal rules amid growing calls for tweaks to be made to factor in long-term investments and demands for higher defence spending. Richard Hughes, the most recent chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), called on Reeves to see out her fiscal rules through parliament. Appearing [...]
It’s a sad story from brewery to pub February 26, 2026 It was a balmy 17 degrees in the Square Mile yesterday, drawing crowds out for a lunchtime pint in the sun. But in other parts of the country the hospitality sector is still in the grip of winter. Bad news came thick and fast from my native Cornwall yesterday, starting with confirmation that Sharp’s Brewery [...]
Why Rachel Reeves’ low-key Spring Statement still matters February 26, 2026 This is the Spring Statement that Chancellor Rachel Reeves has long been waiting for in opposition: a moment of sheer insignificance. In May 2023, six months after the mini-budget debacle, Reeves offered a speech in opposition to Washington DC’s top independent think tank, the Peterson Institute, exalting her core economics philosophy of ‘securonomics’. She summarised [...]
Tory MP accuses Starmer of ‘blatant lie’ over energy bills claim February 25, 2026 A Tory backbencher has lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer for a “blatant lie” after he praised a drop in the energy price cap set by Ofgem. Katie Lam, who has weighed in on issues ranging from growth to immigration, said energy bills under Labour had spiked since it took to power in mid-2024. She [...]