The invisible workforce – why AI agents need new identity rules May 27, 2026 As organisations across the UK deploy AI agents and autonomous workflows, they’reintroducing a new class of digital actor into the enterprise – one that doesn’t authenticate like aperson and doesn’t follow the rules we’ve built for human users. The scale of this shift hasalready triggered structural warnings at the highest levels, with the Bank of [...]
‘It’s important we increase spending’: Treasury minister defends triple lock pension May 27, 2026 A Treasury minister has defended the triple lock pension as a sustainable policy despite former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair attacking the benefit for being unaffordable. Dan Tomlinson said it was “important we have the triple lock and that we increase spending on pensioners”, doubling down on the controversial manifesto commitment that has been criticised [...]
End quantitative tightening now May 26, 2026 Ending active quantitative tightening is not monetary loosening. The Bank must stop adding avoidable pressure to the gilt market.
Intense discounting pushes food inflation to year low May 26, 2026 Intense competition among UK supermarkets has pushed food inflation to its lowest level in a year, despite warnings that the Iran war will push up prices. Heavy discounting saw food inflation fall from 3.1 per cent last month to 2.7 per cent in May, according to data by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ. [...]
Industry chiefs slam packaging tax that could push food prices higher May 24, 2026 Industry bosses have hit out at the government and warned that food prices will rise by more than necessary as the packaging tax is set to be introduced. The government had been scrambling to find ways to limit a price surge in the coming months, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out incentives for families to [...]
Reeves food tariffs policy will ‘barely touch the sides’ on supermarket prices May 21, 2026 Food manufacturers and retailers have slammed Rachel Reeves’ cost of living measures, claiming the government’s loosening of food tariffs will do little to help supermarkets to cut prices. The Chancellor urged supermarkets to pass on savings from the stripped tariffs to shoppers “in full,” but retailers fear this measure will “barely touch the sides,” City [...]
Starling’s profit slides as falling interest rates bite May 21, 2026 Starling’s profit took a dip in the latest financial year as the lower interest rate environment took a chunk out of the digital bank’s bottom line. The UK fintech notched a £217m pre-tax profit, down three per cent from the £223m secured in the prior year. This came as revenue slipped 5.6 per cent to [...]
Top Bank of England officials warn Reeves against supermarket price cap May 20, 2026 Senior Bank of England officials have warned that price controls on essential goods are not an effective long-term tool to lower the cost of living, after it emerged the Treasury was pushing supermarkets to commit to cap prices of consumer staples. Speaking at a Treasury Committee appearance, governor Andrew Bailey told MPs that controlling the [...]
Inflation drops as Labour subsidies delay price surge May 20, 2026 Inflation dropped slightly compared to the result in the month before as Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget policies stalled an expected surge in price growth. The Office for National Statistics revealed that the consumer price index (CPI) reading was 2.8 per cent, lower than expected by City forecasters. The data for price growth in the year [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 rises as oil slips; Analysts warn of ‘short-lived’ inflation drop May 20, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The City has welcomed news of undershooting inflation this morning, but warning signs already suggest it’s a temporary blip. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.8 per cent in the 12 months to April, that’s under the three per cent pencilled in and a major drop [...]