A day with London’s exclusive Auto Vivendi supercar club July 7, 2025 We crawl through Cricklewood, battle through Brent Cross, then cruise sedately up the A1 (M). Finally, we take the exit, the traffic ebbs away and the road opens up ahead: a ribbon of empty tarmac between open fields. My overwhelming urge is to click the left paddle down a couple of gears, flatten my right [...]
Downing Street flirts with wealth tax despite exodus fears July 7, 2025 The UK’s unprecedented exodus of wealthy people could be set to accelerate after the government opened the door to introducing a wealth tax, following calls for such a move by former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock and a host of union leaders. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has all but conceded that taxes will have to rise [...]
Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge: Bright sparks, dark dreams July 7, 2025 The typical Rolls-Royce buyer – if such a person exists – is now 42 years old. For the Spectre, the average age drops to just 35. Given that I recently celebrated my 46th birthday and drive a 19-year-old Golf, those feel like sobering statistics. Clearly, I should have worked harder at school. Rolls-Royce’s shifting demographic [...]
Starmer and Macron hope for ‘progress’ on defence and migration at summit July 5, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have said they hope to make “good progress” on issues including migration and defence when they meet next week, Number 10 has said. The two leaders will hold a summit when the French President travels to the UK for a state visit next week, with the two leaders speaking [...]
Starmer’s had a bad year – here’s what he must do next July 4, 2025 Following a chaotic and deeply damaging row over welfare cuts, Keir Starmer can’t afford any more cock-ups, says Douglas Beattie A year ago the general election campaign was closing and the country was about to vote for the first Labour government in 14 years. A year on, many at the top of the party accept [...]
Why did Santander buy TSB? July 3, 2025 Santander might have hoped its takeover of TSB would make waves across the banking industry, but analysts have dubbed it a more modest splash. The deal, which is set to be worth £2.9bn when closed in 2026, will add TSB’s five million customers, £34bn in mortgages and £35bn in deposits to Santander’s portfolio as well [...]
Watch: Labour’s ‘total clusterf**k’ July 3, 2025 It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Exactly a year ago the Labour government swept into office promising stability, competence and economic growth. So why, on the one year anniversary of their victory, does it feel like their dying days? This has been a pretty extraordinary week in British politics and it’s a week that [...]
The Capitalist: Jeremy Hunt demands toaster back from Rachel Reeves July 3, 2025 Is Rachel Reeves toast? We don't know, but we do know Jeremy Hunt wants his toaster back; catch up on the latest gossip in The Capitalist.
Forget stocks and shares, the history of the City is all about shoes July 3, 2025 Forget stocks and shares, the Square Mile has an illustrious history full of shoes that deserves celebrating, writes Anna Moloney.
Mark Kleinman: BP risks being left a Shell without new chair July 3, 2025 BP risks being left a Shell without new chair A not-so-supermajor? Speculation about a Shell tilt at BP to establish a £200bn oil and gas behemoth has been running wild since a Bloomberg News report in May that the Anglo-Dutch group was “studying” such a move. Last week, that speculation lurched into overdrive, when the [...]