Alcohol-free beer and hummus: Trendy food transforms inflation basket March 16, 2026 Healthy food and personal security products have dominated the list of additions to the Office for National Statistics’ basket of goods, which is used to calculate CPI inflation each month. Alcohol-free beer, hummus and baby food are among the new entries in the inflation basket of goods, it has been revealed. The revisions to the [...]
Starmer: ‘Viable plan’ needed for Trump’s Strait of Hormuz request March 16, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has said he is still in discussions to draw up a “viable, collective plan” with European allies in response to President Trump’s call for help in the Strait of Hormuz. In a press conference on Monday, the Prime Minister insisted that the country would “not be drawn into the wider war” in [...]
‘Pressure point’: Oil prices spike as Trump turns up heat on Nato March 16, 2026 The price of oil spiked once more as trading for the new week began after Donald Trump ramped up pressure on his Nato peers to help get supply flowing. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, jumped 2.9 per cent as trading open after the weekend to near $106.12 a barrel, but later gave [...]
Second home stamp duty means 2m houses ‘missing’ from rental market March 16, 2026 More than 2m rental homes are missing from the market because of the second home tax imposed a decade ago, new research has found. Nearly ten per cent fewer homes are available to rent than was projected in 2016, when the stamp duty surcharge on second homes pushed millions of houses out of the reach [...]
Reeves vows ‘greater support’ for poorer Brits as Iran oil island hit March 14, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested poorer households will receive “greater support” in an energy subsidy package as oil supply worries intensified after a key Iranian island was attacked. Reeves has said she “found the money” to announce a support package for people not supported by the energy price cap, including rural communities which use heating [...]
Petrol retailers pull out of Reeves meeting over ‘abuse’ of staff March 13, 2026 Petrol retailers have pulled out of a meeting with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, claiming the government’s warnings against “price gouging” have led to forecourt staff being abused. The head of the Petrol Retailer’s Association (PRA) called off the meeting at late notice on Friday, after Reeves’ office allegedly refused to hold the tete-a-tete behind closed doors. [...]
Oil crisis to ‘push UK into recession’ after growth flatlines March 13, 2026 Fears that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East will plunge the UK into a recession have been amplified after fresh figures revealed the economy flatlined in January. The price of oil closed above $100 for the first time since 2022 last night as interventions from the global energy body failed to calm markets amid [...]
Iran war ‘heavily’ affecting property confidence, developer says March 13, 2026 Property developer Berkeley Group has said the Iran war is “weighing heavily” on market confidence and could push up inflation. The FTSE 100 firm told shareholders on Friday: “The emerging situation in the Middle East is weighing heavily on risk sentiment and we await to see the impact of this on the market.” “While reaffirming [...]
‘Taxed to a standstill’ – UK economy grinds to a halt with no growth in January March 13, 2026 The UK economy saw zero growth in the first month of the year – before global markets were rocked by the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have handed a major blow to Rachel Reeves with the economy flat in January, compared to the 0.2 [...]
Oil surges again as industry faces ‘largest disruption in history of the market’ March 12, 2026 The global energy body has warned the current oil crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East marks the “largest disruption” in history of the commodity’s market. The International Energy Agency (IEA) made a record intervention in the market on Wednesday, with the release of 400m barrels from the strategic reserves. But the move [...]