Services sector rebound expected to help economy limp towards growth February 10, 2026 Rachel Reeves is set to breathe a minor sigh of relief at the sight of new economic data this week with the UK economy expected to have limped towards growth in December. A survey of City economists by Bloomberg had projected a 0.1 per cent expansion in December and 0.2 per cent for the fourth-quarter. [...]
Law Society slams Labour’s ‘crude’ stealth tax on legal clients February 10, 2026 The Law Society issued a blistering response to the government’s proposal to take the interest law firms earn on money sitting in their client accounts, branding it a “fundamentally flawed” sector-specific tax that threatens the stability of the wider UK legal economy. Last month, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on a proposal to [...]
Barclays boss calls for political ‘stability’ as banker’s pay packet swells to £15m February 10, 2026 The boss of British banking giant Barclays has called for “stability” across the political landscape as the Labour government’s future faces uncertainty. CS Venkatakrishnan, the bank’s chief executive who is known as Venkat, faced questions on the turmoil in Number 10 after Barclays published its full-year earnings report. “From the point of view of businesses [...]
Budget documents accessed thousands of times before release February 10, 2026 The budget was accessed nearly 25,000 times before its formal release, according to an official report into the leak, raising questions over the data handling practices of the UK’s fiscal watchdog. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had identified at least 24,701 successful downloads of the document, compared to the 43 spotted in [...]
FTSE 100 Live: BP tumbles on buyback suspension, Barclays profit boost February 10, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It was a rocky day for bond markets on Monday as political jitters rippled through the City. The 10-year gilt yield – a key benchmark for the government – rose as much as 10 basis points to 4.62 per cent following news that Scottish Labour [...]
Starm before the storm? PM survives the day but crisis still looms. February 10, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is “getting on with the job” following a punishing 24 hours in which he lost his Chief of Staff, his Director of Communications and the support of Labour’s leader in Scotland as the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal threatens to collapse the government. As leadership speculation continued to [...]
Why the Tory Party tried to persuade Karren Brady to run for London mayor February 10, 2026 The Tories need a political heavyweight to come forward and run for mayor. We once tried but to no avail, writes Giles Kenningham
Brace yourself for the chaos that will follow Starmer’s departure February 10, 2026 Anas Sarwar is not a name often seen in the pages of City AM but he’s earned his place after yesterday’s hastily announced press conference in which he called for Keir Starmer to resign as Prime Minister. Prior to his intervention there had been radio silence from Starmer’s Cabinet ministers, not one of whom had [...]
Wetherspoon boss backs Reform pub package – and defends dog policy February 9, 2026 Sir Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, has called on hospitality firms to back Reform’s proposed pub support package, arguing it would “utterly transform” the landscape for pubs. In a stock exchange release, Martin said Reform’s proposals would offer pubs “tax parity” with supermarkets. “By eliminating the tax differential between supermarkets and the hospitality industry, [...]
Cabinet rallies around Starmer as Scottish Labour leader calls on PM to quit February 9, 2026 Every Cabinet minister, alongside former deputy leader Angela Rayner, has given public backing to Sir Keir Starmer’s position, following a speech from the Scottish Labour leader calling for the PM to step down. Possible leadership contenders, also including Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband, have posted supportive messages on social media in quick succession. [...]