Immigration law firm put up for sale on insolvency market amid visa crackdown January 13, 2026 A London law firm specialising in immigration services has been put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace in an early sign the government’s crackdown on visas has sparked a slump in applications. Woolwich-based A Vincent Solicitors, which employs more than two dozen staff and has a second office in Manchester, offered multi-lingual support services [...]
Stride vows to protect OBR in new dividing line with Farage January 12, 2026 Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has vowed to protect the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in any future Conservative government, drawing a dividing line with Reform’s Nigel Farage on approaches to controlling public finances. Stride is expected to re-establish the Conservative Party’s firm commitment to maintaining the fiscal watchdog as an independent body scoring the effects [...]
Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform as polling lead extended January 12, 2026 Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has defected to Reform UK as fresh polling has shown the party extending its lead over Labour and the Tories. Zahawi, a former ally of Boris Johnson who served as Chancellor for a matter of months, announced his high-profile defection in a press conference in Westminster on Monday. Along with new [...]
Mark my words: Starmer is set to approve China’s ‘super embassy’ January 12, 2026 Keir Starmer is set to travel to China and has appealed for business leaders to accompany him. You don’t do that if you’re anticipating holding a foreign government to account, says Eliot Wilson At the end of this month, Sir Keir Starmer is due to travel to China for the first visit by a British [...]
Migrant visa applications plummet in test to Reeves January 10, 2026 Migrants’ skilled worker visa applications plummeted in December, posing a test to Rachel Reeves and economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to take control of public finances. New figures showed that the number of skilled worker visa applications dropped to 2,500 in December, having increased to a peak of 10,100 in April 2024. [...]
UK threatened with sanctions if Starmer blocks Musk’s X January 9, 2026 The UK has been warned it could face US sanctions if Sir Keir Starmer attempts to block Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, amid mounting concern over its AI tool generating sexualised images of women and children. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican Congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump, said she was drafting legislation that would [...]
Pound to suffer ‘until May’ amid Starmer leadership troubles January 9, 2026 Sterling will suffer from speculation over Keir Starmer’s leadership until at least the May elections, economists have predicted, with 2026 tipped to become another year where Westminster infighting sparks City jitters. Analysts at Investec have suggested that the further strengthening of the pound will be held back by continued questions over Starmer’s authority across the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Sainsbury’s and Unite dish shareholders cash; Mining merger talks January 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It was Britain’s retail sector taking centre stage yesterday amid a fresh influx of corporate updates that gave a snapshot of the industry’s December performance. Tesco came out swinging, revealing its market share had climbed to the highest in 10 years after a Christmas sales [...]
M&S shakes off cyber chaos with strong Christmas sales January 8, 2026 Marks & Spencer (M&S) has delivered a steadier than feared Christmas trading update, offering some festive cheer for investors after a year, overshadowed by a costly cyber attack and months of disrupted online sales. The retailer reported group sales of £5bn for the 13 weeks to 27 December, up 3.3 per cent excluding Ocado Retail, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Supermarket shares fall in trolley wars; M&S rises amid cyber recovery January 8, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100’s rally came crashing down yesterday as steep losses across commodities dragged the index into the red. Whilst one shouldn’t fret too much with the index still holding firm above its latest milestone, Wednesday’s 0.7 per cent drop still wiped over 70 points [...]