Labour’s own policies undermine their ‘welfare to work’ agenda April 1, 2025 The government has made many mistakes since coming to office, but the Chancellor deserves some credit for not breaking her fiscal rules at the first opportunity. The demands from various groups (and various wings of her own party) for more borrowing or exempting certain measures from the fiscal rules were ruthlessly ignored at the Spring [...]
US tariffs: UK expects to be hit by Trump taxes this week, No10 admits March 31, 2025 The UK expects to be hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs this week, No10 has said, amid frantic discussions to secure an exemption for UK businesses. The government has been trying to negotiate to spare British exports from the taxes on imports into the US which are set to come into force later this week on [...]
London’s commercial property sector is suffocating March 31, 2025 A combination of environmental regulations and falling office attendance means commercial property is struggling and the Spring Statement was a missed opportunity to turn it around, says Dan Drogman The UK’s commercial property sector is being strangled from all angles, and this year’s Spring Statement was a missed opportunity to relieve that pressure. Let’s start [...]
Starmer and Trump to continue trade talks ‘at pace’ March 31, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump discussed “productive negotiations” to advance a UK-US trade deal and agreed they will “continue at pace” in a phone call on Sunday night, Downing Street has said. The UK is trying to negotiate an exemption from tariffs on imports into the US. Negotiations are said to be intense, with moves [...]
Are Brits getting richer? It depends how you measure growth March 30, 2025 Wobbly growth is the opposite of what Rachel Reeves would have hoped for in her first six months as Chancellor. While the headline figure on Friday morning said the UK economy had only expanded by 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2024, economists suggested that there was a more pressing matter at hand. [...]
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.
City calls for ISA reform to promote investment culture March 29, 2025 City AM spoke to experts who expect any changes to ISAs to be announced in this year’s Autumn Budget.
Spring Statement 2025: Rachel Reeves’ popularity nears Kwasi Kwarteng levels March 28, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ popularity rating as Chancellor has neared Kwasi Kwarteng levels after the mini-Budget, following the Spring Statement on Wednesday. She set out £14bn in welfare and spending cuts in the House of Commons, including a £4.8bn squeeze on benefits, to restore the £9.9bn headroom she had at the Autumn Budget, which would otherwise have [...]
Rachel Reeves has already lost half of her £9.9bn headroom March 28, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has had £5bn wiped off her headroom less than 48 hours after she delivered her Spring Statement, a calculation by Bloomberg Economics has suggested. Chancellor Reeves has received several warnings from leading economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that her headroom risks getting [...]
Retail sales beat expectations as Brits keep shopping March 28, 2025 Retail sales volumes beat expectations in February as British shoppers seemed to loosen their spending habits, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail sales rose one per cent month-on-month after rising 1.4 per cent in January. Markets had expected a decline of 0.3 per cent. Annual retail sales growth came in at 2.2 [...]