‘Shenanigans’: Did the OBR save Reeves from hiking income taxes at the Budget? November 18, 2025 For weeks, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had been engaged in an extraordinary communications exercise of expectation management, leading Brits to believe that income tax was about to hiked for the first time in 50 years. In an unusual press conference earlier this month, she told journalists that everyone would have to contribute to the Labour government’s [...]
Productivity growth twitchy in wake-up call for OBR and Reeves November 13, 2025 Productivity levels stuttered in the third quarter of the year, an initial estimate has shown, subverting the Chancellor’s hopes of boosting output in the UK economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday morning that quarterly growth in output per hour rates was 0.7 per cent, the highest level since the end of [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Taylor Wimpey and Fuller’s Budget warning; Starmer under fire November 12, 2025 Good morning from the City AM live blog team. The FTSE 100 is springing back to life this week, managing to seal its second consecutive record close at 9,899.60p after a 1.15 per cent gain and bringing the index a whisker away from the 10,000 mark. The blue-chip index has rallied after the US government [...]
Brits don’t believe this is a country that rewards hard work November 12, 2025 What conversations are you having at work, at home, in the pub? There’s plenty to talk about, from Traitors (BBC good?) to trust in public broadcasting (BBC bad?) to say nothing of football, Remembrance Day, the weather and Christmas. Looking beyond these topics, is it possible to discern the national mood? Do we feel that [...]
Retailers hit by subdued October as Budget threat looms November 11, 2025 UK retailers suffered a “subdued” October as Brits tightened their pockets ahead of what is expected to be a tax-heavy Autumn Budget. Retail sales increased 1.6 per cent year-on-year but remained below the 12-month average of 2.1 per cent, marking the weakest growth since May. The new data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and [...]
Pensions, motorists and workers: The tax targets Rachel Reeves is eyeing up November 7, 2025 If there is one thing that is clear three weeks out from the Autumn Budget, it is that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will hike taxes. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which scores the economic impacts of the government’s policies and publishes forecasts on public finances, has been questioned for being over optimistic on measures such [...]
Tax row erupts as Reeves tells watchdog she will break manifesto November 7, 2025 The Labour government is split in a fresh tax row after Rachel Reeves reportedly told the fiscal watchdog she will raise income tax in her forthcoming Autumn Budget – a move that will break a key manifesto pledge. The Chancellor is said to have informed the Office for Budget Responsibility that an increase to income [...]
Business chiefs tell Reeves to make ‘unpopular’ tax decision November 6, 2025 Business chiefs have urged Rachel Reeves to take a bolder approach at the Budget and consider “unpopular” decisions to break Labour Party manifesto commitments. Members across the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), one of the UK’s largest industry groups, have urged the Chancellor to focus on boosting investment and productivity for the long-haul. Business leaders [...]
M&S reveals full cost of cyber attack November 5, 2025 The hit from Marks and Spencer’s cyber attack earlier this year is set to total £136m by 2026, the company said this morning. This is in addition to insurance income of £100m related to the attack, which hit the FTSE 100 firm in April. The fashion and food company was forced to suspend online orders [...]
Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation? October 30, 2025 For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK [...]