Pensions triple lock should not be kept ‘indefinitely’, says minister who introduced it January 18, 2025 The minister who first signed off on the pensions triple lock has suggested he thinks there is not a case for keeping the measure “indefinitely”. Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Steve Webb, who served as pensions minister in the coalition government, thinks there is still a case for keeping it now, and there is still “a pretty low state pension” [...]
Local elections will be ‘quite difficult’ for Tories, says Badenoch January 18, 2025 The Conservative leader has predicted that this year’s vote will be “very bad” for the Tories compared to votes four years ago.
Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel to begin on Sunday morning January 18, 2025 The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect in less than 24 hours, said Qatar’s foreign ministry. In a post on X, Qatar’s foreign minister Majid al-Ansari, said the ceasefire will go into effect at 8.30am (0630 GMT) on Sunday. He advised people to exercise caution when the agreement goes into effect and [...]
IMF upgrades UK growth outlook after sluggish year January 17, 2025 UK economic growth is set to accelerate this year after it missed forecasts in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. The global economic body slightly upgraded its growth projection for the UK in a fresh update of its influential World Economic Outlook report. The IMF said UK gross domestic product (GDP) is on [...]
Next: Lord Wolfson warns Budget will make it ‘harder’ to enter workforce January 17, 2025 The boss of retail giant Next has warned that tax rises announced in the Budget will make it “harder and harder for people to enter the workforce”. Lord Wolfson told the BBC that the government’s move to hike national insurance (NI) would disproportionately hit entry-level jobs. “The axe has fallen particularly hard on those entry-level, [...]
Northampton Town: Former owner appears in court on £10m fraud charge January 16, 2025 Former Northampton Town chairman David Cardoza and three other men have appeared in court charged with fraud in connection with a £10m stadium redevelopment loan. Cardoza spoke only to confirm his identity and date of birth and was not asked to enter a plea during a hearing lasting less then five minutes at Northampton Magistrates [...]
Wall Street banks JP Morgan, Citi and Goldman Sachs report bumper profit January 15, 2025 Some of Wall Street’s biggest banks reported a surge in profit today on the back of a rebound in dealmaking and strengthening equity markets toward the end of last year. JPMorgan Chase, the US’s biggest lender, said profit had jumped 50 per cent to $14bn (£11.41bn) through the final quarter as its dealmakers and traders [...]
Starmer ‘will listen’ to Tulip Siddiq inquiry findings, minister says January 12, 2025 The Prime Minister will act on the findings of an independent investigation into Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, a Cabinet minister has said. Science Secretary Peter Kyle said Siddiq has “done exactly the right thing” in referring herself to the Parliamentary watchdog over allegations about properties linked to her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh. Following reports [...]
Chinese investment of £600m in UK ‘a start’, says Cabinet minister January 12, 2025 China committing to putting £600m in the UK is “a start” and “will lead to future investment”, a Cabinet minister has said. Science Secretary Peter Kyle said the Chancellor has returned with “solid commitments for investment” as the Government commits to “rebuilding the relationship with China”. Rachel Reeves has been criticised by the Conservatives and [...]
Tech giants must obey UK’s online safety laws, says minister January 12, 2025 British law has not changed and tech giants must still obey it, the Science Secretary has said in response to Meta’s decision to do away with content moderation teams. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that his social media platforms would replace their longstanding fact-checking programme with a “community notes” system similar to Elon [...]
