By: Ali Lyon

chief reporter Ali Lyon is the chief reporter at City AM, responsible for covering the full gamut of business, finance and wealth news. He has been at City AM full-time since July 2024. Get in touch with tips via email: ali.lyon@cityam.com. Follow Ali on X: @alilyon_94

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Healey’s Budget prices in wave of fresh North Sea drilling

Exclusive

John Healey’s Budget has assumed the government will approve drilling projects that produce more than a billion barrels of oil and gas, meaning ministers will face a hole in the public finances if they fail to green-light new North Sea extraction. In its scorecard for the Chancellor’s maiden fiscal event, the Office for Budget Responsibility [...]
Budget 2026: Healey leans on private sector for defence investment drive

Industrials

The Chancellor has set up a new defence financing taskforce and unveiled fresh funding for investment in the arms industry amid a concerted effort to lean on the private sector to drive Britain’s rearmament push. John Healey swerved any concrete public sector defence pledges at his maiden Budget, promising to provide detail on how the [...]
Budget 2026: Healey freezes fuel duty again

Tax

John Healey has frozen fuel duty for a 15th consecutive year and extended the Ukraine war 5p cut, as part of a raft of small measures aimed to shield households from the Middle East conflict. The Chancellor confirmed the levy on petrol and diesel would remain frozen at 53p a litre until July, saying: “For [...]

Budget 2026: Green levies stripped from energy bills

October 28, 2026

John Healey will scrap green levies from energy bills and shift environmental funding into the wider tax base to minimise the impact of the Iran war on UK households. The Chancellor said on Wednesday he would axe the surcharge applied to energy bills “for good”, in what represents major shift of the government’s environmental agenda. [...]
Firms forced to give staff ‘government approved’ advice on joining a union

October 28, 2026

Businesses will be forced to tell their staff how to join a union at least once a year under fresh plans drawn up by the government to boost participation in organised labour. The government has decided the rules, due to come into force at the start of next year, will apply to employers of all [...]
Government issues debt at highest interest rate since financial crisis on eve of Budget

October 27, 2026

The Debt Management Office has been forced to sell nearly £5bn of five-year gilts at their highest interest rate since 2008, underscoring the fiscal challenge facing John Healey on the eve of his maiden Budget. The body responsible for selling the UK’s debt said it had issued £4.5bn of bonds maturing in 2032 at a [...]
Activist investor revives Auction Technology Group campaign

October 26, 2026

The notorious activist investor behind a failed bid to buy Auction Technology Group has revived its campaign against the FTSE 250 firm’s management, calling for a new chair and a strategic review that could result in a sale. Fitzwalter Capital, which is Auction Technology’s (ATG) largest shareholder, called on investors to oust incumbent chair Scott [...]
Autumn Budget 2026: What does the bond market want from Healey?

October 23, 2026

John Healey is not expected to rock the boat in his maiden Budget next week. Looking at the combustible bond market, that’s probably just as well, writes Ali Lyon. John Healey is, the well-worn cliche goes, walking a tightrope. Boxed in from three directions, the Chancellor could certainly have hoped for an easier backdrop in [...]
William Hill owner blames Man City dominance for revenue drop

October 23, 2026

The dominance of Manchester City and Arsenal football clubs at the summit of English football has dented earnings at the owner of gambling giant William Hill. Evoke reported that third quarter revenue was between one and two percentage points lower than it might have been because of a string of what it called “particularly customer-friendly [...]
Threats to financial system ‘on steroids’ after AI boom, FCA chief warns

October 22, 2026

The unchecked rise of artificial intelligence means the level of risk facing the financial system is currently “on steroids”, according to the boss of the Financial Conduct Authority, who warned that excessive “tick-box” rulemaking would fail to keep pace with increasingly complex threats. Speaking at a City of London dinner, Nikil Rathi said risks to [...]

Healey’s Budget prices in wave of fresh North Sea drilling

Sorry padel bores, the sport doesn’t deserve an Olympics spot yet

Watching my first Budget: An idiot’s blow-by-blow account

By: Ali Lyon

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