Retailers suffer ‘sharp decline’ in footfall October 9, 2026 Retail footfall took a dive in September as shoppers stayed away from shopping centres, prompting calls for the Chancellor to slash taxes for high street firms. In September, the UK’s total retail footfall fell by 2.9 per cent, far worse than the 1.7 per cent decline recorded in the month prior, according to the British [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 rallies as oil falls back after Trump’s Iran war pledge October 9, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Donald Trump has said the US has engaged in “productive discussions” with Iran and would refrain from attacking the country before the midterm elections, bringing relief to the oil market. It’s taken the price of Brent crude back slightly, though it has remained around $103 per barrel after [...]
Bailey: Governments must help control inflation too October 8, 2026 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that governments should look to help keep prices stable and win over markets with disinflationary tax and spending measures. In an intervention on the relationship between monetary and fiscal policy, Bailey urged governments to consider the impacts of government spending and borrowing on inflation. The Bank of [...]
Thousands of Lifetime ISA savers slammed with multiple withdrawal penalties October 8, 2026 Thousands of Brits who saved into a Lifetime ISA were hit with multiple withdrawal penalties in a single tax year, as calls for the government to ensure the replacement product is fit for purpose grows. Roughly 45,000 savers were penalised for unauthorised withdrawals from Lifetime ISAs (LISA) in the 2024/25 tax year, according to an [...]
Tesco urges Healey to slash ‘fundamentally unfair’ business rates October 8, 2026 The boss of Tesco has urged John Healey to reform the “fundamentally unfair” business rates system and avoid a so-called warehouse tax. Ken Murphy, chief executive of the UK’s biggest grocer, has become the latest retail industry figure to urge the Chancellor to cut taxes on high street businesses, as Andy Burnham pledges a revival [...]
Interest rate fears dampen UK house buying demand October 8, 2026 Brits held off inquiring about buying new homes last month as fears over higher mortgage rates dampened the market. Housing demand dropped in September, according to a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which found that 22 per cent of property professionals saw buyer inquiries fall last month. That figure was up [...]
Will anyone turn Badenoch’s looming battle into a tapestry? October 7, 2026 The Tory party has been enjoying itself in Birmingham, not least thanks to the delightful wheeze of mocking up the Bayeux Tapestry to tell the story of British politics under Labour’s first two years in power. The exhibition may well prove to be among the most popular offerings at the party conference; behind Jeremy Clarkson [...]
Emerging markets buck investor woes as equity funds shunned October 7, 2026 Investors may have cut their exposure to equities in favour of bonds and fixed income holdings, but emerging markets defied the trend. UK investors withdrew £858m from equity funds in September, marking the fifteenth month of outflows in the last sixteen, according to the latest fund flow index from Calastone. Since the start of the [...]
Governments should spend more on welfare to tackle cost of living, says IMF October 6, 2026 Governments across the world should prioritise targeted welfare support for low income households over broader measures like tax cuts to ease the cost of living, the International Monetary Fund has said. Policymakers should do more to protect vulnerable households from surges in inflation caused by geopolitical events like the Iran war, the IMF says in [...]
Old fault lines are threatening to rock the Eurozone October 6, 2026 After years in which central-bank backstops encouraged Eurozone investors to look the other way, the bond market has finally started to notice.