Budget damage to housing market set to continue, experts warn January 22, 2026 The UK’s housing market will continue to suffer from the impact of months of budget speculation last year as seller confidence languishes, property experts have warned. While sellers and estate agents breathed a sigh of relief when November’s Budget steered clear of most of the property that had been feared, these experts told City AM [...]
Scrapping jury trials will only have ‘modest’ impact on backlog January 22, 2026 David Lammy’s controversial plan to restrict jury trials will unlock only “relatively modest reductions in demand given the scale of institutional upheaval”, according to a new report by the Institute for Government (IFG). The government’s plans, which leaked in November, revealed a move to scrap some jury trials to tackle the nearly 80,000 criminal case [...]
High Court to hear Reform’s challenge on cancelled council elections January 21, 2026 Reform UK’s legal challenge against the UK government over plans to delay local elections is set to go to a two-day trial next month. The case focuses on the government’s plan to allow 63 councils to postpone their local elections that were scheduled for May 2026. So far, more than a third of local authorities [...]
Coffee and sugar drive surging food inflation January 21, 2026 Sharp increases in the cost of coffee and sugar are behind the high rate of food inflation which is one of the drivers of the surprise inflation rise. The cost of food increased at a rate of 4.5 per cent in the year to December, overshooting the overall inflation rate of 3.4 per cent by [...]
UK’s net zero drive singled out in Trump attacks January 21, 2026 The UK’s net zero policies were singled out in President Trump’s long tirade against European energy struggles at the World Economic Forum in Davos. President Trump described the UK economy’s struggles in stark terms, suggesting that the Labour government had disregarded “one of the greatest reserves in the world” at the North Sea. In his [...]
FTSE 100 rebounds as Trump rules out taking Greenland by force January 21, 2026 Global markets bounced back into the green on Wednesday after President Donald Trump confirmed the US would not use military action to seize Greenland. In his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said: “All the US is asking for is a place called Greenland”. “We never ask for anything and we never [...]
Starmer: I will not yield to Trump January 21, 2026 Keir Starmer said President Trump’s tirade against the Chagos Islands deal was to “pressure” him to change tune on Greenland, adding he would “engage constructively” with the US administration and other allies. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer defiantly defended his position on upholding Greenland’s sovereignty, suggesting Trump’s unexpected attack on Chagos in a Truth Social [...]
Nato and Europe must be ‘stronger,’ JP Morgan’s Dimon tells Davos January 21, 2026 The world’s most influential banker has said the world is “simply not safe” and called for a stronger Nato and Europe in a chilling warning to the economic elite at Davos. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, JP Morgan’s top boss Jamie Dimon said the eyes of the world “woke up” after Russia’s invasion of [...]
Division in Davos: EU warns tariffs could hit US ‘very quickly’ January 21, 2026 The EU has warned that its retaliatory tariffs could be implemented “very quickly” after President Trump doubled down on his desire to annex Greenland. The EU’s economic commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, said the EU was prepared to respond to US tariff threats, dialling up the risk of an extraordinary clash between the world’s largest economy and [...]
Wetherspoon shares sink after business rates knock profit January 21, 2026 Wetherspoon shares slumped on Wednesday after the pub giant laid bare the scale of the financial hit from November’s tax-raising Budget. The FTSE 250 member said cost rises across energy, wages, repairs and business rates had put up costs by a staggering £45m in the 25 weeks to mid-January. That would imply a cost rise [...]