UK public uneasy about self-driving vehicles ahead of Waymo launch October 30, 2025 Ahead of Waymo’s arrival on British roads, a new report reveals that nearly three-quarters of people in the UK are concerned about the safety of self-driving vehicles. According to insurer Allianz, across six regions, more than 70 per cent of Brits said they had concerns about this emerging technology, compared to between 64 per cent [...]
Motability cuts? Rachel Reeves is taking British taxpayers for a ride October 24, 2025 Rachel Reeves pledge to reform the absurd Motability scheme essentially amounts to giving alcoholics Peugeots instead of a BMWs, says Jack Rankin As Rachel Reeves continues to take the scenic route to the next Budget, rumours are swirling that she is setting her sights on the Motability Scheme, hoping to claw back around £1bn in [...]
Manufacturing order books suffer sharp drop October 23, 2025 Manufacturing activity in October suffered a sharp drop amid high interest rates and uncertainty around the upcoming Budget, a new survey has found. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s latest industrial trends survey has shown that the total orders balance fell to minus 38. The CBI said September’s figure showed a score of minus 28. [...]
Waymo’s driverless taxi UK rollout puts legal system to the test October 21, 2025 The UK is set to become the first European country to welcome Waymo’s driverless taxis but lawyers caution that current laws are fundamentally incompatible with the technology. Last week, Waymo announced its UK launch will start with a small fleet of human-supervised Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles “in the coming weeks,” before moving to fully autonomous [...]
Rachel Reeves’ growth policies scored by City AM October 20, 2025 As Rachel Reeves does her maths ahead of the 26 November Budget, she will hope that Labour’s policies have delivered enough growth to limit the number of tax hikes needed to restore her £9.9bn fiscal headroom. The fiscal black hole facing the Treasury could be between £20bn and £30bn due to higher borrowing costs, productivity [...]
Rachel Reeves gears up for £1bn savings in Motability October 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves is reportedly planning a £1bn savings package through cuts to the Motability scheme offered to disabled people. As part of a drive to plug a £30bn hole in the public purse, the Chancellor is considering reducing the number of BMWs and Mercedes some disability claimants can access through the Motability scheme, which is [...]
Former Aviva chief executive dies in car crash October 16, 2025 The former UK boss of insurance giant Aviva has died in a car crash, after his vehicle collided with a tree. David Barral, who held senior roles as Aviva Life and Pensions, was driving his Aston Martin when it crashed on the A58 between Bardsey and Collingham just outside his native Leeds on Tuesday. “We [...]
The FCA’s refusal to regulate AI is pushing the problem onto City firms October 9, 2025 The FCA claims it does not regulate technology, only outcomes, but this line of thinking can only go so far with AI, writes Omar Salem.
FCA orders lenders to pay £11bn in motor finance compensation October 7, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it expects lenders to make 14.2 million payouts to individuals affected by unfair motor finance agreements, totalling around £11bn in compensation. The FCA estimates people would receive around £700 per agreement, on average. It has also been calculated that around 85 per cent of eligible consumers would [...]
The scandal of the defence start-ups getting debanked October 2, 2025 No one should be debanked – made effectively bankrupt – because of their political views, but when it’s done to start-ups vital to defence, it endangers us all, says James Graham Few knew what debanking was in the summer of 2023 when news emerged that Nigel Farage’s account had been shut down. His bank initially [...]