Energy bills bailout speculation sparks bond sell-off fears March 17, 2026 An unfunded government intervention to subsidise household energy bills would trigger a gilt market rout likely to push the UK’s long-term borrowing costs to the highest they have been since 1997, bond investors and economists have warned. David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton, told City AM that the prospect of ministers [...]
Reform UK pledge energy tax cut in swipe at Labour March 17, 2026 Robert Jenrick has said Reform UK would strip VAT from energy bills months after the government flirted with the £2bn tax cut, deepening the party’s row with Labour. The “shadow chancellor” said Reform would strip VAT and green levies from household energy bills if it came to power, thereby saving households an estimated £200. Party [...]
Bank of England ‘should wait’ before cutting interest rates, City AM Shadow MPC says March 17, 2026 The Bank of England should “wait and see” how long the war in Iran goes on for before cutting interest rates again, leading economists on City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee have said. The crisis in the Middle East has pushed up energy prices and heightened fears that the UK economy is heading for a [...]
Why this oil shock isn’t like the last one March 17, 2026 The new surge in oil prices will be shaped more by political responses than by monetary policy, due to a crucial shift in the economic backdrop from the tight labor markets of 2022 to the current looser conditions, says Helen Thomas This week, six major central banks meet in quick succession, including the big four: [...]
‘No one expects’ Bank of England to cut interest rates, says former MPC member March 17, 2026 A former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said that “no one expects a cut” to interest rates amidst deepening conflict in the Middle East. Prof Jonathan Haskel, who is also a member of City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme he believes a rates [...]
Alcohol-free beer and hummus: Trendy food transforms inflation basket March 16, 2026 Healthy food and personal security products have dominated the list of additions to the Office for National Statistics’ basket of goods, which is used to calculate CPI inflation each month. Alcohol-free beer, hummus and baby food are among the new entries in the inflation basket of goods, it has been revealed. The revisions to the [...]
Starmer: ‘Viable plan’ needed for Trump’s Strait of Hormuz request March 16, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has said he is still in discussions to draw up a “viable, collective plan” with European allies in response to President Trump’s call for help in the Strait of Hormuz. In a press conference on Monday, the Prime Minister insisted that the country would “not be drawn into the wider war” in [...]
‘Pressure point’: Oil prices spike as Trump turns up heat on Nato March 16, 2026 The price of oil spiked once more as trading for the new week began after Donald Trump ramped up pressure on his Nato peers to help get supply flowing. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, jumped 2.9 per cent as trading open after the weekend to near $106.12 a barrel, but later gave [...]
Second home stamp duty means 2m houses ‘missing’ from rental market March 16, 2026 More than 2m rental homes are missing from the market because of the second home tax imposed a decade ago, new research has found. Nearly ten per cent fewer homes are available to rent than was projected in 2016, when the stamp duty surcharge on second homes pushed millions of houses out of the reach [...]
Reeves vows ‘greater support’ for poorer Brits as Iran oil island hit March 14, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested poorer households will receive “greater support” in an energy subsidy package as oil supply worries intensified after a key Iranian island was attacked. Reeves has said she “found the money” to announce a support package for people not supported by the energy price cap, including rural communities which use heating [...]