FTSE 100 Live: Beazley seals $15bn Zurich deal, Santander in $12bn takeover February 4, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Shares in Europe’s biggest data, publishing and legal software groups slumped on Tuesday after AI giant Anthropic unveiled a new tool aimed directly at in-house lawyers. The move rattled investors who had long viewed the sector as an AI winner. In London, Relx fell close [...]
Voters think defections help Reform UK – and harm the Tories February 4, 2026 Voters believe that political defections made by the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman will help Reform UK in elections – and damage the Conservatives. The latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll of UK voters has found that 44 per cent think the recent defections will increase Reform’s chances at the next general election, compared [...]
Britain’s growth slumps and the Business Secretary scratches his head February 4, 2026 Having spent another day wading through the Epstein-Mandelson email traffic I was going to write another column about how unbelievably grubby the revelations are, but it’s too depressing. So, I thought I’d focus on something more cheerful; the latest downgrades to the UK’s economic growth forecasts. On his visit to China alongside the PM, the [...]
The Debate: Should student loan debt be forgiven? February 4, 2026 Student loans are under the spotlight, with those who took out plans between 2012 and 2023 feeling the bite. Should student debt (or some of it) be forgiven?
New Years optimism wears off as economic expectations drop February 4, 2026 New Year’s optimism is beginning to fall away with the number of people expecting the economy to improve this year falling at the start of February. According to the latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll of UK voters, the number of people expecting the economy to improve in the next 12 months has fallen by four [...]
Cost of hiring graduates shot up after Reeves’ tax raids February 4, 2026 The cost of hiring graduates and other young Brits in entry-level roles increased by seven per cent in real terms after Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiked employers’ national insurance and raised the national living wage, economists have found. A new set of forecasts and analysis by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has [...]
Auto-enrolment closed the gap but more needs to be done, says pension minister February 3, 2026 The introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012 helped boost pension savings, but more needs to be done to encourage people to save for retirement, a leading government official has said. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers conference, pensions minister Torsten Bell acknowledged the importance of auto enrolment, with savings rates for eligible workplace employees doubling [...]
Criminal investigation launched into Mandelson’s Downing Street ‘leaks’ February 3, 2026 A criminal investigation has been launched into Peter Mandelson, according to reports. The news comes after the scandal-hit politician decided to step down from the House of Lords following fresh pressure on the Labour veteran after the latest bombshell drop of the Epstein files. The Lord Speaker said on Tuesday afternoon Mandelson would exit the [...]
Starmer hands police details on Mandelson alleged leaks to Epstein February 3, 2026 Keir Starmer has shared government assessments on Lord Peter Mandelson’s alleged leaking of sensitive information to Jefrrey Epstein with the police after it was confirmed that several parties, including Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, had referred the matter to the authorities. The Cabinet Office shared details on emails from the former business secretary to the paedophile [...]
Rolls-Royce: FTSE 100 giants shares eye all-time high in tariff comeback February 3, 2026 Shares in aerospace giant Rolls-Royce were back on the march to an all-time high after a tariff salvo from the US sent the City giant’s stock tumbling. The FTSE 100 titan’s stock was up 1.6 per cent to 1,250.50p on Tuesday morning, making it one of the top risers on the blue-chip index. The Derbyshire-headquartered [...]