Reeves faces £20bn fiscal hole as energy crisis drives up costs March 22, 2026 Rachel Reeves is facing a potential £20bn shortfall in her spending plans as the Middle East energy crisis pushes up inflation, borrowing costs and pressure on public sector pay. The warning from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) comes as surging oil and gas prices begin to feed through into the wider economy, threatening to [...]
Iceland boss calls for profit cap on energy firms as prices surge March 22, 2026 Richard Walker has urged the government to consider imposing a temporary cap on energy company profits, warning that households risk bearing the brunt of another price shock linked to the Middle East conflict. The Iceland boss, recently appointed as a Labour peer and cost of living adviser, said ministers should examine limiting earnings for producers [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown services resume after technical glitch March 21, 2026 The UK’s largest DIY investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown has confirmed clients can once more access their accounts after a technical problem on Friday brought operations to a standstill. The platform reported that it was “no longer seeing” the earlier technical issues in a statement on Friday evening, with customers once more able to make transactions. [...]
Starmer to convene emergency meeting over Iran war price shock March 21, 2026 Prime Minister Keir Starmer will convene an emergency meeting of senior cabinet ministers and the governor of the Bank of England next week, as prices continue to soar amid the Middle East conflict. The meeting will discuss plans to help households with the rising cost of living caused by the war in Iran, according to [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown customers unable to make transactions after tech problem March 20, 2026 Customers at the UK’s largest DIY investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown have been locked out of their accounts, leaving them unable to make transactions during a period of severe market volatility. Since Thursday evening, investors attempting to log on to the website were unable to access cash savings, pensions and investment accounts because of an IT [...]
Borrowing costs soar to post-financial crisis high in blow to Reeves March 20, 2026 UK government borrowing costs have soared to their highest level since the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, with markets frightened by the state of public finances in the face of another global price shock. Gilt yields have inched up over the course of the week, with the ten-year gilt yield topping 4.9 per cent on [...]
Bank of England to hike interest rates twice, JP Morgan says March 20, 2026 The Bank of England will hike interest rates at its next meeting in late April, JP Morgan has predicted, presenting a new threat to the security of the UK economy. JP Morgan economist Allan Monks has said that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will opt to raise interest rates at least twice this year. [...]
Reeves hit by spike in government borrowing March 20, 2026 UK government borrowing rose by more than expected in February, it has been revealed, adding a strain on public finances as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces trouble ahead with deciding the government’s response to the war in Iran. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that the government borrowed £14bn, with economists having predicted the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gilt yields soar, Bank of England rate hike fears grow, Wetherspoon shares tumble March 20, 2026 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Stocks made gains on Friday morning after a statement from Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu that he could see “this war ending a lot faster than people think” reassured markets that conflict in the Middle East could soon recede. The remarks follow further missile strikes by the US [...]
Gilt yields – the hidden driver of house prices March 20, 2026 Everyone has assumed, understandably, that the two main factors influencing UK house prices are supply and affordability, but there is a third driver: gilt yields, says James Sproule James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political strategist, famously said if reincarnation was real, he wanted to come back as the bond market, “because then I can intimidate everyone”. [...]