Happy Tax Freedom Day! You’re working for the government longer than ever June 12, 2025 Today is Tax Freedom Day, the point in the year where British workers earn enough to pay their off their tax bill and start working for themselves – and it’s later than at any point since 1981, says James Lawson “There is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program”. So wrote 20th-century American economist [...]
Reform and Tories aligned on Spending Review criticism June 11, 2025 Reform UK has described government spending plans as being “completely out of control” after Rachel Reeves unveiled a package of measures that would increase spending by nearly £200bn over the course of the parliament. Responding to the Chancellor’s Spending Review, Reform Deputy Richard Tice said: “inflation is up, unemployment is up, government borrowing is up, [...]
Spending Review: Gilt yields dip in relief for Rachel Reeves June 11, 2025 Gilt yields fell in the minutes following the publication of the government’s Spending Review, paring back earlier rises and raising hopes the Chancellor had placated markets over her splurge on infrastructure, energy and healthcare spending. The 10-year UK government bond yield nudged down from 4.61 per cent to 4.55 per cent after the Spending Review [...]
Reeves’ straitjacket: Why Britain’s spending problem is political, not economic June 11, 2025 Public spending should not be held hostage to the OBR’s latest spreadsheet projections, as if the future of school funding hangs on whether GDP is revised up by 0.1 per cent. Our leaders should acknowledge that fiscal headroom is a political choice, says Dimitri Zenghelis The UK government is right to focus on investment and [...]
Will Reeves’ spending review make UK housing more affordable? June 11, 2025 Rachel Reeves has made housebuilding a central feature of the government’s spending policy. The planning system has been reformed, money has been funnelled into skills and developing brownfield housing, and new towns have been announced. But this afternoon’s spending review has firmly set out the government’s commitments for the sector, and affordable regional housing is [...]
Worrying jobs figures show Labour’s Britain is heading for stagflation June 11, 2025 Staggering rises in unemployment are a result of government polices that prevent businesses creating new jobs, and will ultimately condemn Britain’s economy to low growth and high inflation, says Matthew Elliott Today’s employment figures from the ONS must serve as a wake-up call to the government that their economic agenda is running adrift. We have [...]
Retail shrinks by over 360,000 jobs in a decade June 10, 2025 The number of retail jobs in the UK has shrunk by more than a tenth since 2015, according to new data. There were 2.76m jobs in retail in March 2025, 360,000 fewer than in 2015, according to the latest report by the ONS. The number of full-time jobs has fallen by 117,000 since 2015, while the number [...]
Bellway: Completions surge at FTSE 250 housebuilder June 10, 2025 Bellway has said it expects to see a surge in home completions amid an increase in consumer confidence and reservation rates. The FTSE 250 housebuilder and property developer said it was well-positioned to deliver cumulative volume growth of 20 per cent over the two years to end July 2026. In a trading update, the Newcastle-based [...]
Unemployment creeps up as firms cut jobs following Reeves tax raid June 10, 2025 The unemployment rate has crept up to 4.6 per cent from 4.5 per cent, official data has revealed, putting Chancellor Reeves’ ambition of growing the UK economy and getting people into work under threat. It is the highest unemployment rate in three years, with the UK economy then recovering from the pandemic. Figures released by [...]
Fresh blow for Rachel Reeves as voters scorn growth plans June 10, 2025 A dwindling number of Brits have confidence that the government can deliver on its plans for economic growth, fresh polling has found, laying bare the scale of Rachel Reeves’ challenge to restore voter trust as she prepares to unveil the Spending Review on Wednesday. Just 22 per cent of Brits have some confidence in the [...]