UK government borrowing soars in September to highest in five years October 21, 2025 UK government borrowing soared north of £20bn in September, official data has revealed, in another blow for Rachel Reeves as she gears up for a painful tax-raising Budget next month. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said government borrowing over the month was the highest seen for five years and an increase of £1.6bn compared [...]
ONS: We know we need to do more to improve our data October 21, 2025 After calculation errors thwarted the publication of price indices in the spring, the ONS's James Benford explains how the institute has improved its dataset.
Housing market ‘desperately needs’ a demand boost October 20, 2025 Analysts have argued the UK’s housing market needs demand-boosting policies after the housing market missed out on its usual Autumn bounce. House prices rose 0.3 per cent month on month, to £371,422 – far below the ten-year average October bounce of 1.1 per cent, according to Rightmove. “Buyers at the higher end in particular have [...]
Why can’t London build housing? October 20, 2025 London has the UK’s least affordable housing and it’s building the least, Sadiq Khan’s affordable housing targets and the Building Safety Regulator are largely to blame, says Ben Hopkinson Housing in London has been in crisis for decades. Unaffordable rents have kept professionals in their 20s living with their parents, made it harder for families [...]
Inflation has doubled under Reeves and she has no plan to bring it down October 20, 2025 Inflation is the unseen robber that diminishes our savings and makes a mockery of our plans for the future. Reeves must explain what she plans to do about it before it gets out of control, says Eliot Wilson When Lord Gove hinted in The Spectator last month at parallels between contemporary Britain and Weimar Germany, [...]
B&M: City broker ‘not concerned’ about retailer despite turmoil October 20, 2025 City broker Panmure Liberum has reassured investors about a serious slide in B&M’s share price, arguing that it’s based on a ‘one-time error’ and doesn’t suggest underlying trouble. B&M surprised markets this morning when it released a trading statement showing a significant accounting error and the related departure of its chief financial officer. The FTSE [...]
Inflation set to hit double Bank of England’s target October 20, 2025 The UK’s isolated struggles with price growth are set to hit a new milestone on Wednesday as consumer price index (CPI) inflation will surge to double the Bank of England’s target rate. In more troubling news for the Treasury and the Bank’s interest rate-setters, inflation is forecast to hit four per cent in the year [...]
Government must increase financial education in order to boost investment, think tank warns October 20, 2025 The government must do more to encourage wealth building and increase financial knowledge as Brits continue to turn away from retail investing, a think tank has warned. According to the latest report from the Startup Coalition, only 50 per cent of adults invest in the stock market, leaving billions in low-yield accounts and cash ISAs, [...]
Bank of England should cut interest rates at ‘more cautious pace’, Huw Pill urges October 17, 2025 The Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill has renewed calls for interest rates to be cut at a “more cautious pace” in the next year, adding to the likelihood that Bank Rate may be held at four per cent for the foreseeable future. In a speech delivered on Friday, Pill said efforts to lower [...]
Over half of firms would stop hiring if Reeves hikes taxes, survey finds October 17, 2025 More than half of businesses would cut staff or stop hiring if taxes are hiked at this year’s Budget, a leading survey of accountants has found, a fresh warning that Chancellor Rachel Reeves risks inflicting further damage on the UK jobs market. Reeves has publicly said that she was considering making tax hikes at this [...]