There’s nothing new in Zack Polanski’s fantasy economics November 25, 2025 Let’s go for a lyrical opening to this column: “The newspapers shout a new style is growing, but I don’t know if it’s coming or going, there is fashion, there is fad, some is good, some is bad, and the joke – rather sad – that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating.” [...]
Join City AM and guests for a LIVE broadcast on Budget Day November 21, 2025 After months of speculation and mounting political drama, Rachel Reeves will deliver her second Budget at noon on Wednesday 26 November. City AM‘s team will bring you all the news throughout the day on our Live Blog via CityAM.com and the City AM App, along with a special livestream broadcast from the heart of the [...]
Budget chaos isn’t a game, it’s caused real harm November 20, 2025 It’s been the longest run-up to a Budget anyone can remember, it started just after the last Budget, so how much damage has this chaos caused? In her first speech as Chancellor in the first week of July last year, Rachel Reeves used the word stability 8 times. She pledged to “deliver economic stability” and [...]
Unpopular opinion: Banks are taxed enough already November 20, 2025 Is Angela Rayner influencing the Budget from beyond the political grave? The former deputy PM and housing secretary was famously in favour of increasing the additional tax burden faced by banks. Ahead of this year’s Spring Statement, Rayner was riding high. With a confidence that turned out to be misplaced, she inserted herself into debates [...]
Markets will determine whether Reeves has any credibility left November 19, 2025 It’s a regrettable reality that a politician – or an entire government – can limp on for months or even years after losing credibility in the eyes of voters. In contrast, when markets think the credibility is gone the consequences can be much more immediate. Just ask Liz Truss. One week from today, the Chancellor’s [...]
Prime Ministers deserve a nicer house and we deserve better government November 18, 2025 The nerve centre of the British state, 10 Downing Street, is fantastically ill-suited to the needs of a modern Prime Minister and to the interests of the country. An excellent piece by Politico last week lifted the lid on what it’s actually like to work in this rather dilapidated Georgian townhouse, with one former No [...]
Will the Budget push the economy off the cliff? November 13, 2025 Downing Street is in chaos and the economy has flatlined. Now, with just a couple of weeks to go until we find out what’s really in Rachel Reeves’ Budget, Britain’s bosses are getting restless. It used to be the case that Chancellor’s went quiet in the run-up to a Budget, keeping their powder dry and [...]
Starmer promised a calmer politics – how’s that working out? November 13, 2025 They say that if you’re explaining, you’re losing. That quote, attributed to Ronald Reagan, came to mind yesterday as I watched Keir Starmer squirm his way through howls of laughter in the House of Commons as he insisted “we are a united team.” This was fish in a barrel stuff for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, [...]
Brits don’t believe this is a country that rewards hard work November 12, 2025 What conversations are you having at work, at home, in the pub? There’s plenty to talk about, from Traitors (BBC good?) to trust in public broadcasting (BBC bad?) to say nothing of football, Remembrance Day, the weather and Christmas. Looking beyond these topics, is it possible to discern the national mood? Do we feel that [...]
The BBC’s Praetorian Guard would preside over its death November 10, 2025 The BBC has had to apologise to the President of the United States for manipulating footage to give audiences the impression he said something that he did not say. The gravity of this error was so enormous that it caused the resignation of the CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness, and the Director General of [...]
