Noble intentions are not enough. Reeves must fess up to mistakes March 30, 2025 Reeves's good intentions mean nothing against rising inflation, meagre growth and falling employment, writes shadow secretary Helen Whately.
A low-spend way Labour can actually increase GDP? Boost morale! March 29, 2025 Consumer confidence has become a casual predictor of GDP. Labour can use this to their advantage, writes JL Partners' Callum Hunter.
Spring Statement: Watch out for income tax hikes in the autumn March 27, 2025 The Spring Statement has done little to reassure markets about the Chancellor’s commitment to fiscal discipline, says Aviva’s Vasileios Gkionakis The UK government on Wednesday announced cuts in government spending to rebuild ‘fiscal headroom’ after rising government borrowing costs and anaemic economic growth badly damaged its finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the mix of cuts [...]
US tariffs: Reynolds urges ‘cool heads’ over trade negotiations March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has said it is a time for “cool heads” as the UK engages with the US over tariff plans despite holding a “different set of views” on trade policy. It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK is not planning “at the moment” to introduce retaliatory tariffs on the US, after President [...]
Almost 1 in 5 Brits never heard of Stocks and Shares ISA March 27, 2025 Almost one in five Brits have “never heard” of a Stocks and Shares ISA, while a quarter say that while they’ve heard of the UK investment wrapper, they don’t know anything about it. A survey on the struggles of ISA takeup has revealed that 17 per cent of UK adults had never heard of the [...]
MPC member: Trump tariffs won’t push UK inflation higher March 27, 2025 Interest rate-setter Swati Dhingra has suggested that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlikely to move UK inflation measures despite taking a toll on growth. The Bank of England held its interest rates at 4.5 per cent last week. External member Dhingra voted alone in favour of a cut in an 8-1 decision. Speaking at [...]
Echo Falls and Lambrini owner loses over £100m as alcohol duty hikes bite March 27, 2025 The owner of Echo Falls and Lambrini has slumped to a loss of more than £100m as the cost-of-living crisis and alcohol duty hike significantly impacted its finances. The UK arm of Accolade Wines, whose brands also include Hardys and Kumala, has reported a pre-tax loss of £103.8m for the 12 months to 30 June, [...]
High street giants facing shareholder revolt over low wages March 27, 2025 Investor groups and City giants have teamed up to target high street giants Next, M&S and JD Sports with shareholder resolutions over their low wages. Seven institutional investors managing over £1 trillion in assets have joined the campaign, including Axa, Scottish Widows and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. The campaign is being led by responsible [...]
Spring Statement 2025: ‘Very small’ headroom risks getting erased again, OBR warns March 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves faces the prospect of her newly-restored fiscal headroom being wiped out again ahead of the Autumn budget, raising the spectre of fresh take hikes in the future as she battles sluggish growth and economic headwinds. The Chancellor had previously left herself £9.9bn of headroom but the OBR calculated the UK was in fact [...]
Spring Statement provides some relief, but probably not for long March 26, 2025 The Spring Statement offered some reasonably good news on growth, but the margin for error is incredibly slim and the chances of further painful tax rises in autumn are high, says Julian Jessop Not quite a non-event, but it could have been a lot worse. Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement is unlikely to do any significant [...]