Keir Starmer remains tight-lipped on stealth tax U-turn November 19, 2025 Keir Starmer refused to rule out introducing tax hikes on British workers despite being challenged on past commitments to unfreeze tax thresholds from 2028. Starmer attempted to deflect opposition leader Kemi Badenoch’s questions as she recited comments he and the Chancellor had made over the last year on pledges not to extend a freeze on [...]
Reeves’ Budget will fail to rescue public finances, top bank predicts November 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming Budget will not live up to market hopes of fiscal caution nor will it solve problems around high government expenditure, analysts at a leading City bank have warned. Reeves has said she intends to build a larger fiscal buffer than £9.9bn in order to “absorb shocks” next week while the Budget [...]
Inflation stays high in pre-Budget warning to Reeves November 19, 2025 Inflation hit 3.6 per cent in the year to October, it has been revealed, in the last set of prices data Chancellor Rachel Reeves will see before a crucial Budget focused on curbing the cost of living. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said inflation cooled slightly from last month’s figure of 3.8 per cent, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Inflation falls to 3.6 per cent, WH Smith CEO quits November 19, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Global markets downturn continued on Tuesday, with Europe left swimming in the red. The FTSE 100 closed the day down 1.27 per cent at 9,552 as the boss of Google gave the latest warning on the soaring valuation of tech stocks. Sundar Pichai, the head [...]
HP pursues Lynch estate for £1.35bn as tech giant forks out £150m in legal bills November 18, 2025 The High Court heard that the estate of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch should be liable to pay more than £1.35bn to Hewlett-Packard (HP) over fraud linked to the sale of Autonomy. Lynch, who founded software firm Autonomy in 1996, sold it to HP in 2012 for $11.1bn, but after a bust-up over allegations of [...]
Why brands can learn from sports teams about earning fandom November 18, 2025 Brands shouldn’t start imitating sports teams but they do need to understand how fandom makes them so powerful, writes Sarah Hackett. Inflation, tough market conditions and uncertainty around the upcoming Budget are forcing us to make challenging financial choices. Two-thirds of consumers now say that price matters far more than it did before. Our loyalty [...]
COP out: Big businesses swerve climate conference November 18, 2025 COP 26 in Glasgow represented a high-water mark for companies flouting their ambitious transition plans and lofty climate credentials. This year’s summit could not be more different, writes Ali Lyon. Reclining on stage at the 26th COP summit in his native Glasgow, Alan Jope was at home both literally and spiritually. The Unilever chief executive [...]
Reform and Tories battle over the Budget with spending cuts calls November 18, 2025 Opposition parties Reform UK and the Conservatives are intensifying pressure on Labour ahead of the Budget with calls for dramatic spending cuts to fix public finances. In separate press conferences on Tuesday, leaders Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch called for deep cuts to government expenditure to balance the books. Their renewed attacks on the government [...]
Ticket touts face UK crackdown after Oasis outrage November 18, 2025 UK ministers are set to outlaw the resale of tickets for live events at prices above their original face value, in a move aimed at tackling professional touts and secondary ticket platforms like Viagogo and StubHub. The crackdown, due to be announced this week, represents the most aggressive intervention yet in a market long criticised [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Miners sink blue-chip index; CMA crackdown November 18, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. We’re another day closer to the all-important Autumn Budget and the mood started on a sour note once more on Monday. The FTSE 100 struggled to slip out of the red ending the day on a loss of 0.24 per cent to 9,675.43p. Meanwhile, the [...]