FTSE 100 Live: Reeves scrutinised, Fed interest rates decision, stocks suffer December 10, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog covering the FTSE 100 and other big market moves. Rachel Reeves is set for a showdown with MPs on the Treasury Select Committee later today while the Federal Reserve is expected to slash interest rates by 25 basis points by the evening. Reeves will begin [...]
Asylum seekers’ cost to taxpayer is unknown, public auditor says December 10, 2025 The full cost of asylum to the British taxpayer is unknown as the government has not processed data on how much local authorities spend on migrants, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. In a broad report mapping out asylum seekers’ journeys through the UK’s legal systems and support structures, public auditors found that there [...]
Labour believes success is something to be ashamed of December 10, 2025 Two successive Budgets have done unspeakable damage to small and medium sized firms across the country, but the government does not seem keen to reserve the punishment for set piece fiscal events, says John O’Connell After the relentless pre-Budget leaks was the catastrophic event itself. Then came the forensic analysis of who knew what when [...]
Will Andrew Bailey be Santa or Scrooge this Christmas? December 10, 2025 The Notebook, where the City’s movers and shakers have their say, Today it’s Susannah Streeter with the pen Christmas spirit seems to have spread a lot faster this year. I’ve never seen so many trees up in windows quite so early and there seem to be more lights twinkling in the streets. After months of [...]
The government is using Brexit as a scapegoat for its own failures December 10, 2025 Keir Starmer is clearly manoeuvring to get Britain to rejoin the EU – but Brexit is not to blame for Britain’s appalling growth record, says Paul Ormerod David Lammy, the deputy Prime Minister, chose last week to reopen the issue of the UK rejoining the EU. Asked if we will go back into the customs [...]
UK property tax burden is fourth heaviest in OECD December 9, 2025 The UK’s property tax burden is the fourth heaviest in the OECD’s list of 38 countries and it is more than double the average across the list of advanced economies. In a report on government revenue levels across most of the world’s largest economies, the OECD said the UK’s taxes on property as a percentage [...]
Stamp duty holiday first ‘meaningful change’ in a long time, says London Stock Exchange boss December 9, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has welcomed the government’s move to grant a stamp duty holiday to newly-listed entrants, hailing it the first “meaningful change” seen in a long time. Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a three year stamp duty holiday for fresh listings on the London market in her Budget last month. The Treasury’s plans have [...]
Reeves denies authorising Budget leaks December 9, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rejected accusations that she authorised leaks of the Budget to media outlets in the run-up to her statement, which led to sharp turns in bond markets and worsening business confidence. During Treasury Questions on Tuesday afternoon, Reeves was asked by her counterpart Mel Stride whether she authorised or allowed confidential details [...]
UK legal sector books double-digit revenue growth in 2024 December 9, 2025 Total revenue from legal activities in the UK reached a record £52.3bn in 2024, up 11 per cent from 2023, according to a new report by TheCityUK, published in partnership with Barclays. The UK boasts the world’s second-largest legal services market, trailing only the US, thanks to the dominance of English common law. Overall, the [...]
Budget chaos takes toll on October growth as ‘prospects remain poor’ December 9, 2025 The UK economy is expected to have grown by just 0.1 per cent in October as firms grappled with Budget speculation and uncertainty, analysts have said. A Bloomberg poll of City economists predicted the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will pencil in next to no growth for the month. The expected slowdown is set to [...]