Retail sales falter as Budget tensions kick in October 27, 2025 Retail sales are set to decline at a faster pace in the weeks leading up to the November Budget, a new survey has indicated, as Brits hold out for extra taxes and higher prices. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey has suggested that retail sales could collapse in November, reflecting household fears about being [...]
Income tax raid tops Brits’ list of Budget fears October 27, 2025 Brits are more fearful of an income tax raid at the Budget than a rise in VAT or stricter rules on inheritance, a survey has found, with mounting speculation now weighing on people up and down the country. Rachel Reeves has signalled that she will raise taxes next month despite saying last year she would [...]
Supermarkets call on Chancellor to ‘bring inflation to heel’ October 27, 2025 Britain’s largest supermarkets have called on Rachel Reeves to exclude all shops from upcoming changes to to business rates, warning that any hikes to their input costs would further stoke food inflation that is already at over double the Bank of England’s target. In an open letter to the Chancellor, bosses from the UK’s nine [...]
Are we heading for a 1980s-style inflation spike? October 27, 2025 What lessons should policymakers from the Lawson Boom and subsequent recession? Asks Daniel Mahoney High inflation, unreliable data and a government banking on growth. While this sounds familiar, it was also the situation at the end of the 1980s – the “Lawson Boom”. We know what happened next; inflation soared further and was only eventually [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Goodwin shares soar, HSBC $1.1bn Madoff hit, Petrofac administration October 27, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Rachel Reeves likes to insist that she will “never play fast and loose with the public finances.” It’s a phrase she deploys quite often, not least when it looks as if the bond market could do with a bit of reassurance, and it means that she won’t [...]
Reeves ‘to raise national living wage’ in extra burden for firms October 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves is set to confirm a rise in the National Living Wage by four per cent at the Budget, according to reports, in an electorally popular decision that could have severe implications for businesses and the wider UK economy. Businesses have repeatedly warned that the double cost of last year’s tax raid on employers’ [...]
Three reasons to bin the triple lock October 25, 2025 The triple lock was forged with noble intentions, but in 2025 it's become an expensive political relic, writes Tom Adcock.
FTSE 100 Live: Natwest ups guidance, Retail sales rise October 24, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. As we get closer and closer to the Budget, businesses are becoming more and more vocal on their concerns over what could be in store. Yesterday it was the turn of London estate agent Foxton’s, which warned of softened demand as a result of Budget uncertainty. “Macroeconomic [...]
Consumer confidence remains downbeat amid Budget wariness October 24, 2025 A small lift in consumer confidence over October has failed to take a leading index into positive territory amid fears that the upcoming Budget could damage personal finances. Labour has made boosting living standards a central mission in government while Chancellor Rachel Reeves has recently talked up plans to lower the cost of living for [...]
A mansion tax would hit ordinary Londoners and stall the market October 24, 2025 A rumoured tax raid on sales of properties over £1.5m would be a disaster for Londoners, says James Evans With the Treasury neither confirming nor ruling out the prospect of a so-called ‘mansion tax’ – a capital gains levy thought to be based on the sale of primary residences above £1.5m – uncertainty is already [...]