Broadcaster and former BBC executive Alan Yentob dies aged 78 May 25, 2025 Former BBC executive and TV presenter Alan Yentob has died at the age of 78, his family has announced. Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held positions as controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, head of music and arts, as well as the director of BBC drama, [...]
South Western becomes first rail service renationalised under Labour May 25, 2025 The government’s renationalisation of rail services has started as trains operated by South Western Railway (SWR) were taken into public control. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who travelled on the first renationalised departure from London Waterloo, said it was “a new dawn for our railways”. SWR was previously owned by Firstgroup and MTR Corporation, but is [...]
As Labour chases Reform, they’re bleeding votes on the left May 25, 2025 Just two weeks after Reform UK’s local election triumph, the government announced a major crackdown on immigration. But while Labour scrambles to neutralise the threat from the right, it risks losing another, just as substantial, cohort to its left, argues Fonie Mitsopoulou. The electorate doesn’t love Labour at the moment. Recent polls indicate that of [...]
European stock markets fall sharply on Trump’s EU tariff salvo May 23, 2025 Stock markets across Europe dropped dramatically on Friday afternoon after Donald Trump announced plans to levy a 50 per cent tariff on all US imports from the European Union next month. The FTSE 100 dropped as much as 1.35 per cent after the US President mooted the move in a post on Truth social in [...]
Markets slump as Trump vows 50 per cent tariffs on the EU May 23, 2025 President Trump has announced he is “recommending” 50 per cent tariffs be imposed on all European Union (EU) imports into the US, sending markets in Europe and the UK into the red. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that the new rate of trade levies would kick in on 1 June. [...]
The Elizabeth Line has clocked enough miles for 45 round trips to the moon May 23, 2025 The Elizabeth Line has clocked up enough miles in its first three years to reach the moon and back 45 times, it has been revealed. More than 600m passenger journeys have been made on the UK’s single busiest railway service since operations began in 2022, according to Transport for London (TfL). That means London’s ‘Lizzie [...]
Forget the EU, UK businesses want to trade with China May 23, 2025 From UK businesses shifting trade to China, the message is clear: growth matters more than geopolitics, writes Jane Galvin.
Travelodge in the red amid Reeves’ £21m tax hikes May 22, 2025 Travelodge has fallen to a loss during the first three months of its financial year as it battles the tax hikes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget which will cost the hotel chain more than £20m this year. The company confirmed last year that the rise in the National Living Wage will cost [...]
Reeves’ impossible mission to save the public finances – in four charts May 22, 2025 Government borrowing spiked in April, according to official data, in a stark illustration of the difficult fiscal tightrope that the Chancellor Reeves is walking. The £20.2bn in monthly borrowing was steeper than economists’ prediction of £18bn. So, Reeves might have shivered when she heard Keir Starmer tell the House of Commons winter fuel payments would [...]
Why we love the Square Mile’s Williamson’s Tavern May 22, 2025 In a new series celebrating the businesses nominated for the Toast the City awards, Adam Bloodworth visits one of the Square Mile’s best hidden gems, Williamson’s Tavern, an alleyway-based boozer with a vibe like no other What is it? Ancient rules dictate that sightlines to St Paul’s must be visible from across the capital and [...]