Spring Statement Live: UK growth cut for 2026 but Reeves touts future forecasts Markets Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement today, as the Office for Budget Responsibility published its updated forecasts for the years ahead. The Chancellor was handed quite a hefty blow with the UK’s growth estimate for 2026 slashed to 1.1 per cent from 1.4 per cent the year prior. [...]
‘Attention, please’: Rachel Reeves hails rail fare freeze over Liverpool Street tannoy Transport & Infrastructure Commuters arriving into Liverpool Street station have been serenaded by the Chancellor’s voice today. Rachel Reeves has taken over the key City transport artery to share the news of a freeze to rail fares – the first in 30 years. In a message read out over the tannoy periodically throughout Monday, Reeves opens with: “Testing, [...]
Greens win Gorton and Denton by-election in humiliating defeat for Keir Starmer Politics Sir Keir Starmer has said that Labour’s defeat in the Gorton and Denton by-election is “very disappointing” and promised to “keep fighting”. The Greens won the by-election with more than 40 per cent of the vote, in a humiliating defeat for the Prime Minister. Hannah Spencer has been elected the new MP for the Greater [...]
Graduate jobs crisis: Here’s who is actually still hiring in 2026 February 25, 2026 The job market is looking bleak. For recent graduates it’s not just a downturn, but a great big wall blocking off access to an early career. But in a vicious, Darwinian struggle for a meagre handful of jobs, there could still be advantages for grads. The whippersnapper hiring slowdown is a many-headed beast, but the [...]
Antonia Romeo appointed civil service boss February 19, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo to be the first female cabinet secretary to lead the civil service, as part of a reshuffle of the government’s top team. The new civil service chief is currently the most senior civil servant at the Home Office, and was a leading contender for the role when [...]
Keir Starmer U-turns on plans to cancel 30 local elections February 16, 2026 The government has shelved plans to postpone local elections in May for 30 councils in England. Communities secretary Steve Reed says the decision comes “in the light of recent legal advice”, and ahead of a planned High Court hearing that was set for Thursday. According to a letter from the Government Legal Department, shared by [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Zurich and Beazley £8bn deal gets time; Defence and bank stocks rally February 16, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The first round of 2026 tech wobbles kicked into action last week and revived fears of an AI bubble. When Anthropic released a new AI tool designed to help in-house legal teams triage agreements and draft routine responses, the reaction trickled down through law firms straight into [...]
Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham criticise pub tax raid February 12, 2026 Two prominent potential leadership challengers to Sir Keir Starmer have attacked the government’s tax regime for putting hospitality businesses, and particularly pubs, under serious pressure. Angela Rayner acknowledged that the hike to the minimum wage has put pressure on hospitality businesses, and said that the government needs to “start relieving” the sector. Starmer’s former deputy [...]
Starm before the storm? PM survives the day but crisis still looms. February 10, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is “getting on with the job” following a punishing 24 hours in which he lost his Chief of Staff, his Director of Communications and the support of Labour’s leader in Scotland as the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal threatens to collapse the government. As leadership speculation continued to [...]
Cabinet rallies around Starmer as Scottish Labour leader calls on PM to quit February 9, 2026 Every Cabinet minister, alongside former deputy leader Angela Rayner, has given public backing to Sir Keir Starmer’s position, following a speech from the Scottish Labour leader calling for the PM to step down. Possible leadership contenders, also including Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband, have posted supportive messages on social media in quick succession. [...]
