Scottish Widows abandons Mansion House pension funds agreement May 13, 2025 One of the UK’s largest pension funds has ditched a key agreement seen as crucial to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ push to drive growth. Scottish Widows has not signed up to the second iteration of the Mansion House Compact, despite having thrown its weight behind an earlier version of the plans. The original pact saw 11 [...]
Starmer promises to reduce migration – can he keep his word? May 12, 2025 When the prime minister took to the podium at a Downing Street press briefing this morning, he insisted that “people who like politics will try and make this all about politics.” But the PM’s speech on immigration was anything but apolitical – and he delivered it in the shadow of Nigel Farage’s recent electoral success. [...]
UK to increase ‘very high talent’ immigration in new plans May 12, 2025 The number of people arriving on “very high talent routes” will be increased despite efforts to slash immigration levels. The proposals are set out in a section titled ‘global talent’ in Labour’s immigration white paper, which was published on Monday morning and largely focussed on plans to cut net migration from a peak of over [...]
UK living standards have worsened since Labour took power, voters say May 12, 2025 Nearly half of UK voters believe that living standards have deteriorated over the last 12 months, a new poll has suggested. The Labour government is approaching a full year in office in a matter of weeks after an electoral campaign in which it promised to boost people’s personal finances. But a new poll by Freshwater [...]
Quooker: Labour’s policies are hitting our growth May 12, 2025 The boss of instant hot water tap brand Quooker has branded the Labour government “less helpful than helpful” as its decisions are dampening confidence and curtailing investment. UK managing director Stephen Johnson has revealed that rising costs, low consumer confidence and a shrinking kitchen market are making expansion increasingly difficult despite Quooker seeing another 10 [...]
Government wants to ‘go further’ with US trading relationship May 11, 2025 The government wants “to go further in terms of the trading relationship with the US”, the Home Secretary has said, as an American economist warned the deal struck with Donald Trump this week “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”. Joseph Stiglitz told Sky News that had the UK worked with the EU on a [...]
US-UK trade announcement: “this isn’t a deal, it’s an amuse-bouche” May 9, 2025 The morning after the US-UK trade agreement was announced, experts are beginning to wrap their heads around what the deal entails, and reactions are trickling in. The overriding sense is that in the absence of any granular detail on what the deal means for several industries, there is still hope that the UK government can [...]
This is why the UK’s tech tax still riles Washington May 9, 2025 The UK and US have trumped a new trade framework aimed at unlocking growth between the two allies, but one key irritant remains notably unresolved: Britain’s tech tax or Digital Services Tax (DST). The two per cent levy, introduced in 2020 under Boris Johnson, continues to rankle American officials, particularly because it disproportionately affects the [...]
Is the UK-US trade deal a win for Starmer? May 9, 2025 In what has been hailed by trade experts as “the biggest week for UK trade since Brexit,” the UK has struck the long-awaited trade deal with the US, just over a month after – so-called ‘Liberation Day’ – tariffs were announced. This is the US’ first bilateral deal since these tariffs were imposed. But it’s [...]
UK financial services can still drive growth in a volatile world May 9, 2025 Geopolitical turmoil is threatening the resilience of UK financial services, but we don't need to sacrifice growth to protect them, writes KPMG's Karim Haji.