Starmer’s trade deal triumphs fail to impress UK voters May 13, 2025 With Sir Keir Starmer’s approval ratings languishing below those of both the Reform UK and Conservative leaders, Downing Street would have hoped that signing trade deals with India and the US last week could have turned the dial on the PM’s unpopularity. However, despite the diplomatic coups voters appeared unmoved by Starmer’s success on the world [...]
What a trade deal with India means for the UK May 7, 2025 The UK government is heralding a “new era” for British business: after three years of negotiations, a free trade agreement has been signed with India. This is the third agreement the UK has brokered since Brexit and it is also the biggest of them all, given India is the largest single economy that the UK [...]
10 Things You Need to Know Before Investing in Your First Whisky Cask April 30, 2025 The whisky cask market has experienced significant growth over the past decade, quietlyoutperforming other luxury assets, such as fine wine and vintage cars. With Scotch whisky exports reaching £5.4bn in 2024, showing a steady increase of around 36.7per cent over the last decade, the long-term outlook for cask whisky remains strong, providedinvestors know what to [...]
Manufacturers accelerate job cuts as firms brace for ‘gloomy’ year April 24, 2025 Manufacturers are shedding staff at the fastest pace in more than four years, according to new data, as they wrestle with soaring energy bills and Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes bite. The downturn in manufacturing output slightly eased in the quarter to April, a survey of hundreds of firms by the Confederation of British Industry [...]
Trump’s tariff madness is based on anti-capitalist zero-sum thinking April 18, 2025 What is the real reason behind Trump’s punitive tariffs? Two beliefs that have frequently wreaked havoc in the past, writes Rainer Zitelmann.
‘State of despondency’ as tax raid sets up ‘harrowing year’ for firms April 15, 2025 Business leaders’ worries over Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes have plunged corporate confidence into “ominous territory”, a leading business association has warned. The Chancellor launched a multi-billion pound tax raid on British businesses in the Budget last October, and a new report has suggested that the impact of the hikes is continuing to weigh on [...]
UK growth in February smashes low expectations April 11, 2025 The UK economy grew by 0.5 per cent in February, official data has shown, beating forecasters’ expectations by a wide margin. A Bloomberg poll of economists predicted growth to come in at 0.1 per cent for the month. UK GDP grew 0.6 per cent in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics [...]
Net zero no longer a priority for SMEs April 8, 2025 The majority of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have sidelined net zero practices, according to a survey of around 500 business owners, in signs that net zero policies are increasingly falling out of fashion. President Donald Trump’s abandonment of Biden-era green policies has driven a global trend that is seeing firms and governments move away [...]
Tariffs: Starmer commits to fiscal rules and not raising income tax and VAT April 7, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has stressed his commitment to the government’s fiscal rules and reiterated he would not increase national insurance, VAT or income tax, despite Donald Trump’s tariffs upending government economic policy. The Prime Minister called for “cool heads” as global markets plunged in response to the US President’s sweeping global import taxes, and said [...]
Labour’s tunnel tax will make driving an unaffordable luxury for Londoners April 7, 2025 From today, Londoners will have to pay as much as £35 to get to work via the Silvertown or Blackwall Tunnels. The message from this Labour government is clear: drive less and pay more, says Gareth Bacon MP It used to be that the family car symbolised freedom, whether that be the school run, the [...]