Employers still nervous as £20bn tax rise ‘hangs over like a fog’, survey says March 28, 2025 Employers remain pessimistic about hiring new staff as businesses “hoped for more” from the Spring Statement, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ Spring Statement saw multi-billion pound spending commitments on defence and construction as she vowed to “kickstart economic growth”. But a new survey of more than 700 UK employers [...]
US tariffs: Trade secretary won’t rule out cuts to digital services tax March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has refused to rule out cutting the digital services tax on major tech firms, amid the prospect of looming US trade tariffs. The business and trade secretary insisted the UK government was “committed to ensuring tech companies pay a fair amount of tax in the UK”, but added that the digital services tax [...]
Reeves ‘lost gamble’ and is likely to raise taxes, IFS claims March 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “likely” to raise taxes at this year’s Autumn Budget, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has warned, as he claimed an extension to income tax thresholds would make for the “easiest political win”. Reeves’ announced her £40bn tax raid at the last Autumn Budget in October. The bulk of [...]
US tariffs: Reynolds urges ‘cool heads’ over trade negotiations March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has said it is a time for “cool heads” as the UK engages with the US over tariff plans despite holding a “different set of views” on trade policy. It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK is not planning “at the moment” to introduce retaliatory tariffs on the US, after President [...]
Week in Business: Trump’s tariffs add insult to injury after Spring Statement March 27, 2025 City AM Editor Christian May casts his eye over the Chancellor's Spring Statement and asks whether Donald Trump has just derailed her agenda.
Spring Statement 2025: Labour MP warns of ‘mother of all rebellions’ March 27, 2025 A Labour MP have warned that Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves could face the “mother of all rebellions” over welfare policy.
UK car output dips as Trump auto tariffs loom March 27, 2025 Production of cars and commercial vehicles saw an alarming 11.6 per cent decline in February, according to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Just 82,178 vehicles were produced – a drop of 10,787 from February 2024 – in the 12th consecutive month of falling auto manufacturing output. There was a [...]
MPC member: Trump tariffs won’t push UK inflation higher March 27, 2025 Interest rate-setter Swati Dhingra has suggested that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlikely to move UK inflation measures despite taking a toll on growth. The Bank of England held its interest rates at 4.5 per cent last week. External member Dhingra voted alone in favour of a cut in an 8-1 decision. Speaking at [...]
Analysis: Why are the wrong issues under the microscope? March 27, 2025 You’d be forgiven for assuming one of Sabrina Carpenter’s (admittedly catchy) lyrics might have been echoing in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ head, as she prepared ahead of her (less catchy) Spring Statement yesterday. But, when quizzed at a press conference later that afternoon, Reeves insisted as “a 46-year-old woman”, she is not “personally a huge fan” [...]
The Spring Statement takes us back to square one March 27, 2025 It might not have been a Budget, but the Chancellor may well wish that it had been. Constrained by her fiscal rules and her own insistence that yesterday’s statement would not constitute a major event, Rachel Reeves was left shuffling the few cards she held in search of a better hand. The search was in [...]