KPMG: UK taxes to rise steadily to combat mounting public spending pressures September 22, 2025 The UK government faces tough tax choices in the years ahead with mounting public spending pressures versus sluggish economic growth, according to new forecasts. Economists for KPMG said it had been an unexpectedly strong start to 2025 but the second half was looking more uncertain. The accountancy giant is forecasting UK gross domestic product (GDP) [...]
Trump’s trade war pushes exports and people to UK September 20, 2025 President Donald Trump’s brutal tariffs have pushed Canadian exporters across the pond, fresh data has shown, with further US policies on immigration also expected to draw more workers towards the UK. Official figures by Statistics Canada show that the country’s exports to the UK spiked by as much as 63 per cent in the months [...]
Consumer confidence drops ahead of Budget September 19, 2025 Brits’ confidence has fallen as nerves grow over the possibility tax rises in the upcoming November Budget. GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index decreased by two points to -19 in September, with all measures down in comparison to last month. “There’s an autumnal chill in the air this month,” Neil Bellamy said. “With tax rises expected in [...]
Housing in London now classed as unaffordable at every income level September 18, 2025 London housing has been officially classed as unaffordable for every income decile in a ‘pretty grim’ picture of the housing market. New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the average English home costs 7.9 times the average salary. If you live in London, conditions are far worse: Someone earning an average [...]
Interest rates could fall to three per cent – City AM Shadow MPC September 18, 2025 Interest rates could fall as low as three per cent, according to a group of economists in City AM‘s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), but a rocky year for the UK economy could keep borrowing costs high. The Bank of England voted to hold interest rates on Thursday at four per cent due to sticky [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes ‘won’t bring inflation down anytime soon’, Smeg warns September 18, 2025 The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last year’s Autumn Budget will mean it is “sometime” before inflation gets down to the government’s two per cent target, the UK arm of kitchenware brand Smeg has warned. The Abingdon-based division said the increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions, which came into effect in April, [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates and slows down QT to £70bn September 18, 2025 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to hold interest rates amid sticky inflation, with a decision to slow down its quantitative tightening (QT) process also made in light of febrile markets raising borrowing costs. MPC members made a dual decision at its September meeting on interest rates and the sale of [...]
UK Treasury questions OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta over AI in financial services September 18, 2025 The Treasury Committee has sent letters to six major technology firms, including OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, seeking detailed information about the role they play in providing AI services to the UK financial sector. The correspondence is part of the Committee’s inquiry into AI in financial services, ahead of forthcoming sessions with regulators and HM [...]
Time to restore true independence to the Bank of England September 18, 2025 The Bank of England is no longer held directly responsible for inflation but must juggle multiple, sometimes competing objectives. As a result price stability, the Bank’s founding mission, risks being sidelined, says Jonathan Eida While parliament took its summer recess, the Bank of England was busy. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last month announced another [...]
Hawks vs Doves: Bank of England’s MPC will hold interest rates – but expect dissent September 17, 2025 In the last year, the Bank of England has cut interest rates five times on the expectation that price rises were easing in the UK. When inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent in October 2022, policymakers at the Bank warned that its fight to battle inflation was “sacrosanct”. The relentless spiralling of [...]