Tech secretary to slash red tape in bid to boost tech growth March 10, 2025 The technology secretary has pledged to strip away outdated regulations that delay cutting-edge technology across the UK.
KPMG to merge dozens of markets in major overhaul March 10, 2025 Big Four audit giant KPMG will merge dozens of its national partnerships in an attempt to accelerate growth and minimise audit scandals. The move to integrate its panoply of businesses, each of which is owned by the respective partners in each jurisdiction, represents one of the most significant shake-ups at a major professional services network [...]
Heathrow: Business travel groups join calls for change March 10, 2025 Representatives of the business travel and global tourism industry have joined calls for Heathrow Airport to alter its regulatory model ahead of any expansion. The Business Travel Association (BTA), The Advantage Travel Partnership and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on Monday announced their support for change at the UK’s busiest hub, adding to a [...]
Reeves eyeing spending cuts as fiscal walls cave in March 10, 2025 Rachel Reeves is expected to take the chop to spending in her upcoming Spring Statement, as the government’s fiscal headroom disappears. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is set to show a depletion in the Chancellor’s headway, according to BNP Paribas economists. This leaves the government with little options beside further tax hikes or spending [...]
Mark Carney: From the Bank of England to Prime Minister of Canada March 10, 2025 Following his dramatic ascension as Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney will surely be tempted to call an election on a platform of taking the fight to Donald Trump. But if he wins, that’s where his problems will start, says Michael Martins For such a staid and sober place, Canadian politics has taken a radical [...]
The welfare system isn’t working – here’s how to fix it March 10, 2025 Claims for incapacity benefits have gone up by 27 per cent while 35 per cent more have no obligation to look for work. The system needs radical reform, starting with these four changes, say Jean-Andre Prager and Dr Sean Phillips Britain’s health and disability benefits system isn’t working. The Office of Budget Responsibility estimates the [...]
Ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney named next Canadian PM March 10, 2025 Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been named the next Canadian prime minister after winning his party leadership vote in a landslide. Carney won 85.9 per cent of the vote in the Liberal Party leadership contest and will succeed Justin Trudeau, who has been in office for nine years. He served as the [...]
Will Rachel Reeves end up being a right-wing Chancellor by accident? March 10, 2025 With poor growth and pressure on defence spending, Rachel Reeves faces having to make welfare cuts the likes of which haven’t been since the days of Nigel Lawson. But unlike Lawson, her spending plans are not being driven by a programme of reform, but by panic, says Eliot Wilson Rachel Reeves cannot have expected it [...]
ONS reliability questioned after survey ‘collapsed’ to five respondents March 10, 2025 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is under fire after internal emails exposed a sample size of employment data “collapsed to only five individuals”. According to correspondence obtained by the Financial Times, deputy chief economist Richard Heys cautioned in October 2023 that maintaining the statistics agency’s labour force survey (LFS) had “little and falling merit.” Heys [...]
Government to hit regulators with performance targets to drive innovation March 10, 2025 Regulators will be slapped with new performance targets in an effort to stimulate technological innovation and drive investment in the UK. According to Lord Patrick Vallance, the science minister, the benchmarks will be designed to accelerate innovation. Lord Vallance has suggested that this drive for innovation could result in commercial delivery drones, self-driving vehicles, and [...]