Starmer needs to “smash the gangs” behind shoplifting and phone theft March 12, 2025 The clip shared on social media yesterday by the BBC’s Nicky Campbell was unremarkable only because variations of it can be seen every day. Two men frantically empty shop shelves of cosmetics, pouring them into large bags while onlookers film the outrageous scene. They make no effort to hide their faces and when their bags are [...]
Labour’s growth agenda? Necessary but not sufficient. March 11, 2025 Ministers will be deeply frustrated at the lack of economic growth, though they ought not to be surprised. Their own missteps have been well covered in this newspaper, and week after week new survey data reveals the extent to which government policies have dampened spirits, reduced hiring and spooked confidence. However, while their opening salvo [...]
Week in Business: Who will Rachel Reeves blame for higher taxes in Spring Statement? March 6, 2025 City AM Editor Christian May looks at the biggest business stories in his weekly video, today focusing on the UK economy and upcoming Spring Statement.
Reeves is gearing up for a blame game March 6, 2025 You can hear the spin a mile away; as the Chancellor’s team prepares for the Spring Statement the groundwork is being laid. Despite the fact that the inevitable consequences of the government’s multi-billion pound tax raid on businesses have been clear for months, with economic growth suffocated, sources close to the Chancellor are telling the [...]
Net Zero: weak economic growth, high energy prices and stagnant productivity? March 5, 2025 How many times have we heard the argument that there is no trade-off between pursuing Net Zero and economic growth? The argument lies at the heat of the country’s economic, climate and environmental policy debate. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, repeats the mantra at every opportunity – “clean energy and Net Zero equals good jobs [...]
A win on the world stage masks mounting trouble at home March 4, 2025 Keir Starmer has won plaudits for his decision to increase defence spending (albeit by less than the amount he’s given Ed Miliband to run a pretend energy company) and voters appear to be firmly behind the PM’s decision to fund this modest splurge by raiding the international development budget. The latest City AM Freshwater Strategy [...]
Week in Business: Will more defence spending mean higher taxes? February 27, 2025 Cutting the international aid budget to boost defence spending – sounds like a fair exchange in a time of war and hazard – but there’s more to this announcement than meets the eye. The Prime Minister was deadly serious when he stood up in the Commons this week to declare that the country faces a [...]
Is Kemi Badenoch up for the fight? February 27, 2025 What is Kemi Badenoch for? If you’re now asking yourself “who’s Kemi Badenoch?” then she really is in trouble. In the four months since being elected leader of the Conservative Party, she has attempted to make a virtue out of vagueness. She explains, not unreasonably, that her party has to reflect on what went wrong [...]
Spring could prove to be an economic washout February 26, 2025 A modest burst of warm weather towards the end of last week may have coaxed the snowdrops and bluebells into life but don’t go dusting off the BBQ, as the cold isn’t done with us yet. Meteorologically speaking, Spring kicks in on 1 March but forecasters say the first month of the new season is [...]
The Week in Business: Is Rachel Reeves to blame for high inflation and job cuts? February 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves might be able to exaggerate her CV but there’s no massaging the state of the economy. We’re in the eye of the storm; a false calm; growth is flat and the labour market is stagnant – but are things about to take a serious turn for the worse? Earlier this week official labour [...]
