Keir Starmer pressed to ‘come clean’ on Mandelson sacking September 16, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been pressed to “come clean” on how the sacking of former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson unfolded and the process that led to his appointment last year. Starmer, who was not present at an emergency debate on Mandelson’s sacking on Tuesday, said on Monday that he would not have [...]
Rachel Reeves hosts Scott Bessent and finance execs for investment talks September 16, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves hosted US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and top dogs from most of the world’s biggest finance firms in a warm-up event ahead of President Donald Trump’s UK arrival on Tuesday evening. City firms including Barclays, HSBC and Revolut sent representatives to Downing Street, where they were joined by bosses from top Wall [...]
From law to tech: Who’s championing equal parental leave in the UK? September 16, 2025 New research has revealed the inaugural list of 165 UK employers that offer equal parental leave, including more than 20 professional services firms. The full findings, which will be formally launched at the UK’s first Working Dads’ Summit, revealed that 72 of the 165 companies offer dads up to six months of fully paid paternity [...]
Is Danny Kruger right about the death of the Conservative party? September 16, 2025 Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform is a body blow for Kemi Badenoch’s failing project. But Nigel Farage doesn’t have the answers either, says William Atkinson The last Conservative has left the building. Is it time to turn out the lights? That is what ambitious, talented and intelligent Conservatives are thinking following Danny Kruger’s defection to [...]
State pension boost raises questions on tax and triple lock future September 16, 2025 While pensioners may be cheering a proposed 4.7 per cent rise in the state pension, there are lingering questions over the sustainability of such increases and the viability of the triple lock itself. The proposed uplift means that payments to retirees are on track to rise by more than £560, bringing the new full state [...]
Fraud prevention firm SEON raises $80m amid growing compliance demands September 16, 2025 SEON, an AI-driven fraud prevention and compliance platform, has closed an $80m (£58.7m) Series C funding round led by Sixth Street Growth, bringing total investment to $187m. The company, based in Budapest and Austin, analyses tens of millions of customer interactions daily for clients including Revolut, Plaid, Spotify, Afterpay, and Entain. Its platform, delivered via [...]
State pension to rise by £560 in extra costs to Treasury September 16, 2025 The state pension is set to rise by more than £560 from April as wage growth figures used to calculate the increase will make the elderly the “big winner” from today’s economic data in another extra cost to Rachel Reeves. The triple lock uprating policy, which was introduced 15 years ago, means the pension increases [...]
Firms continue to shed workers as jobs market deteriorates September 16, 2025 The collapse of the UK jobs market has deepened, according to official data, undermining the Labour government’s goal to boost employment. Firms continued to shed workers as the number of payrolled employees dropped by 6,000 in July, adding to a collapse of 142,000 over the year. Provisional estimates suggest there was a fall of 8,000 [...]
The Notebook: I was a control officer during President Trump’s last state visit – here’s what to expect this September 16, 2025 The overriding priority during this week’s state visit by Donald Trump will be ensuring nothing goes wrong, unfortunately that means different things to both sides, says Michael Martins During President Trump’s last state visit, I was the landmark on Downing Street to show where the President’s car, the Beast, should park. That was the plan [...]
Big pharma’s devastating retreat from the UK September 16, 2025 Merck and AstraZeneca’s withdrawal from UK investment is a warning signal to Rachel Reeves – but is she listening? Asks Oliver Dean Both AstraZeneca and Merck’s decision to abandon their respective UK expansions is more than a corporate setback. It is a catastrophic loss of jobs, investment and future innovation and the public are now [...]