Pensions, motorists and workers: The tax targets Rachel Reeves is eyeing up November 7, 2025 If there is one thing that is clear three weeks out from the Autumn Budget, it is that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will hike taxes. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which scores the economic impacts of the government’s policies and publishes forecasts on public finances, has been questioned for being over optimistic on measures such [...]
Richard Tice pledges ‘Big Reform’ of City regulation November 5, 2025 Richard Tice has called on City leaders to draw up proposals to radically cut regulation and introduce an overhaul of major financial institutions across the UK as he called for a “Big Reform” of financial services. In an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s Big Bang programme on deregulation, the Reform UK deputy leader set out the [...]
Left and rightwing think tanks join to call for ‘pro-growth’ tax reform November 5, 2025 Several think tanks from across the political divide have joined forces to call for sweeping tax reforms in a report that seeks to prioritise productivity growth and fairness in the wider system. Economists and policy officials from the left-leaning IPPR, the right-leaning Centre for Policy Studies and the likes of the Adam Smith Institute and [...]
Tip off: here’s how to fix infuriating service charges in restaurants November 5, 2025 Faced with high staff costs, restaurants are finding ways around new laws to make sure waiters can keep their tips. There is a better way, says Richard Crampton Platt “Call it whatever you want, it’s still theft!” I said to my flabbergasted general manager. It was bright and early on a Monday, we were sitting [...]
Government-backed bank fuels entrepreneurship for unemployed Brits November 4, 2025 The British Business Bank has announced that nearly £150m in loans has been handed to unemployed people to help them start their own businesses since 2012. The figure represents 22 per cent of all finance issued through the government-backed ‘start-up loans’ programme, which aims to support entrepreneurs who may find it difficult to secure funding [...]
Lawyers warn Reeves: Don’t destroy £60bn industry over LLPs gambit November 4, 2025 The legal industry has slammed Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ proposed tax hike on LLPs, saying the move “could harm one of the UK’s most globally competitive sectors.” As she aims to fill the fiscal black hole, Reeves is reportedly targeting limited liability partnerships (LLPs) for a tax raid for the first time. The LLP model, used [...]
Income tax rise could cause a fresh wave of Brits to move abroad November 4, 2025 Income tax rises in the upcoming Budget would force an increased number of Brits to consider a move abroad, a leading international removal company has warned, adding that hiking the tax would lead to “a great Q4 for companies like mine.” Speculation surrounding a rise in income tax in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ November Budget has [...]
Labour’s evidence-free approach to policy is baffling October 31, 2025 Keir Starmer is often criticised for lacking an ideology, but his actions suggest a pathological belief in in restricting personal freedoms, impoverishing strivers and narrowing horizons of young people. Or socialism, for short, says James Price A catchphrase I’m fond of reciting is that the best way to make God laugh is to tell Him [...]
The tax trap catching thousands of working pensioners October 30, 2025 Thousands of working pensioners found themselves ensnared in the income tax trap last year, as frozen thresholds yanked them into the higher tax bracket. According to a freedom of information request to HMRC by Interactive Investor, 77,000 pensioners found themselves paying 60 per cent income tax, up from just 34,000 three years ago. It was [...]
Dettori lands role with big-spending Amo Racing months after bankruptcy October 30, 2025 Frankie Dettori has announced that he will take up a new role as an ambassador for Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing after his US swansong at this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup. The record-breaking jockey, 54, has five rides booked at Del Mar on Friday and Saturday, with his appearance on Argine in the Breeders’ Cup Mile set [...]