Borders watchdog casts doubt on Labour pledge to end asylum hotels June 24, 2025 The Labour government’s pledge to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by 2030 has been dismissed as unachievable by the UK’s borders watchdog. Chancellor Rachel Reeves reiterated at the Spending Review nearly a fortnight ago that the government’s commitment to end asylum hotels would save the government £1bn a year. But David Bolt, [...]
ONS appoints Bank of England data exec as new chief June 24, 2025 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has appointed a Bank of England executive as its new director general at a time when the independent body is losing trust over its poor handling of key data. James Benford, who served as the Bank’s chief data officer and oversaw analytics, will join the ONS in early August [...]
Manufacturers falter as Reeves urged to fast-track growth policies June 24, 2025 Manufacturing output continues to slump, according to the UK’s largest industry body, as bosses are urging Chancellor Reeves to back up training and technology policies with “short-term delivery”. The UK government set out its long-awaited industrial strategy earlier this week where it listed areas of the economy which had greatest potential for growth, including advanced [...]
Inflation ‘plateau’ could keep interest rates higher, Bank hawk warns June 24, 2025 Bank of England officials may avoid cutting interest rates as worries inflation will remain above three per cent over the coming months leave policymakers in an “uncomfortable place”, a Monetary Policy Committee member has warned. Speaking at an event hosted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, external member Megan Greene said the [...]
Higher tax ‘inevitable’ as PM makes defence spending pledge June 24, 2025 Keir Starmer’s fresh commitment to ramp up defence spending to five per cent as a share of GDP by 2035 will almost certainly have to be funded by more tax hikes, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)’ Paul Johnson has warned. The government’s pledge to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence and a [...]
Reform UK: Zia Yusuf hits back at ‘far left’ non-dom policy critics June 24, 2025 Reform UK’s DOGE chief has hit back at criticisms of the party’s newly-unveiled ‘Robin Hood’ non-doms policy from tax experts, which he described as “drivel”. In a ten-post thread on X, Zia Yusuf embarked on a detailed critique of tax commentator Dan Neidle, after the Tax Policy Associates founder said that there were “several significant [...]
UK set to ‘lose more millionaires’ than any other country June 24, 2025 The UK will lose more millionaires than any country in the world this year, a fresh study has claimed, as a combination of punitive tax hikes on wealth and a stubbornly stagnant economy continue to push some of the richest residents abroad. According to Henley & Partners’ annual Wealth Migration Report, the UK will haemorrhage [...]
Qatar closes airspace as region braces for Iran response June 23, 2025 Qatar shut down its airspace minutes after markets in London closed, with City analysts fearing the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the US could yet escalate further. The UK government followed the US in telling its British nationals in the country to take shelter until further notice. The US said the warning was made out [...]
Palestine Action: Invesco office attacked in latest red paint vandalism June 23, 2025 Global investment firm Invesco has been hit in the latest string of “red paint” attacks on financial services companies. The Atlanta-headquartered firm had its Westminster office vandalised on Monday as red paint and graffiti was left plastered across the side of the walls of the Portman Square building. The vandalism, which was committed by activists [...]
Industrial Strategy: Labour to turn City into ‘most innovative financial centre’ June 23, 2025 Labour has vowed to turn the Square Mile into “the world’s most innovative full-service financial centre” as the government laid out the key pillars of its much-anticipated industrial strategy. The policy document said the government would achieve the milestone by 2035, but was unclear about what the criteria were for hitting it or how it [...]