High street banks’ SME lending comeback inches forward September 11, 2025 High street banks’ return to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) inched onwards in the second quarter. The big banks have turned back to the area as the government clamps down on smaller firms’ difficulty accessing finance. Top bosses were summoned earlier this year for talks with ministers covering how to improve lending to SMEs. In [...]
New minister must not kowtow to the social housing mafia like Angela Rayner September 10, 2025 Steve Reed must choose: will he side with reformers who understand the need for the private sector to be allowed to deliver, or with the old guard whose obsession with social and affordable housing means perpetual scarcity dressed up as compassion? Asks Simon Clarke When the new Housing Secretary, Steve Reed, declared on Monday he [...]
Mervyn King: UK debt is ‘not in a comfortable position’ September 10, 2025 The UK’s national debt load is “not in a comfortable position” and the government faces a “real challenge” in managing fiscal policy, the former Governor of the Bank of England has said. Speaking to Lords at a committee hearing on Wednesday, Mervyn King said the UK was in a “much stronger position” before the financial [...]
NBA Europe set for step forwards as league chiefs near green light September 10, 2025 Today in a New York hotel, the NBA’s executive and representatives of all 30 teams’ ownership will hold the third of their three scheduled annual meetings. On the agenda will be various matters of concern to the world’s biggest basketball league, but the most intriguing item is its plans for the sport in Europe. Subject [...]
9 amazing things to do in London this September (while the sun still shines) September 9, 2025 Delightfully, the good weather seems to be turning into an Indian Summer, with the promise of balmy September evenings as the nights draw in. There are still plenty of ways to enjoy being outdoors this month, as the capital eeks the last out of what has been one of the best summers of recent years. [...]
Clearbank brings fintech revolution to corporate banking September 9, 2025 UK fintech Clearbank has laid out plans to power up its embedded banking services and take on legacy banks on a new battlefield. The firm said outdated “one-size-fits-all” approaches from centuries-old high street banks were “no longer fit for work” and set out plans to challenge traditional transaction services in areas like travel, hospitality and [...]
Race for Labour deputy reignites wealth tax debate September 9, 2025 Labour’s Islington South and Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry has thrown her hat in the ring for Labour deputy leader and proposed a new wealth tax as part of her campaign, prompting Chancellor Rachel Reeves to strike down calls by ruling out its introduction. Thornberry, the former shadow foreign secretary under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership who now [...]
Starmer’s new team faces same old problem September 9, 2025 Good news from Downing Street as we’re told that economic growth is back on the agenda. Keir Starmer’s revamped cabinet meets for the first time today and the prime minister will apparently tell this bright new team to “step up a gear” and focus on the economy. The briefings that accompanied the wave of new [...]
Meet the new ministers driving Labour’s latest growth mission September 9, 2025 A £25bn fiscal black hole, fading housebuilding hopes and lacklustre productivity growth marked a troublesome end to the first year in office for the new occupants of Downing Street this summer. While the resignation of Angela Rayner – the popular Labour figure who had called for the Treasury to turn left and tax the wealthy – [...]
Does Reform have any policies? September 8, 2025 A new format for its conference suggests Reform is thinking seriously about policy, not just personality, says Emma Revell It’s not uncommon for me to spend a September day on a crowded train full of awkward-looking men in suits (and occasionally some women too). But last Friday’s journey was a little different. Instead of heading [...]