City analysts brand SNP food price cap ‘hair brained’ May 19, 2026 Top city analysts have slammed the SNP’s pledge to cap food prices as “hair brained,” as the party’s leader refuses to walk back from the policy. City broker Shore Capital said the SNP’s proposals to cap the prices of some foods would risk diminishing choice, hampering investment in Scotland’s food industry and could even threaten [...]
‘Obscene’ – HS2 on track to cost at least £102bn as minister slams ‘gold-plated folly’ May 19, 2026 HS2 is now poised to cost the taxpayer as much as £102bn and will not run from Euston until at least 2040, according to the transport secretary who blasted the project as a “massively over-specced folly”. Heidi Alexander said the cost of the ill-fated train line was now on course to nearly double from the [...]
Labour selects Burnham and Reform UK picks plumber for by-election battle May 19, 2026 Both Labour and Reform UK have announced their candidates for the upcoming by-election in Makerfield, with the Manchester mayor set to go up against a plumber who narrowly lost in 2024. The Labour Party announced that local members accepted Burnham as its candidate, hours after the so-called ‘King in the North’ published a campaign video [...]
Black Sheep Coffee founder: ‘The Square Mile is a magical place’ May 19, 2026 Black Sheep Coffee was founded in the Square Mile but has now expanded across the world. Its co-founder tells Felix Armstrong about his roots in the City Gabriel Shohet is a company man. The Black Sheep Coffee founder enters the meeting room at the coffee chain’s Southwark offices clad in a branded hoodie, with a [...]
OBR chiefs warn jostling Labour MPs against fiscal rules change May 19, 2026 Office for Budget Responsibility chiefs have warned Labour activists against changing the fiscal rules and overall framework to account for longer term impacts of government investment. The OBR’s David Miles and Tom Josephs said a ten-year forecast horizon would make for a “less credible” economic report and may not have any impact on bond investors. [...]
Cranswick: Pig farmer pivots to bite-sized falafels as Brits embrace weight loss trend May 19, 2026 A food conglomerate founded by pig farmers has been rewarded by its expansion into share-sized Mediterranean foods as weight-loss jabs and health kicks surge in popularity. Cranswick was established by a group of Yorkshire pig farmers in 1972, but has since expanded into falafel and houmous with its acquisitions of Mediterranean food brands like Ramona’s [...]
Quantexa boss: ‘Britain can build global AI winners’ May 19, 2026 Vishal Marria is not short of reasons to be cheerful about Britain. At a time when the UK’s tech sector is once again debating listings, capital flight and whether founders inevitably end up scaling overseas, the Quantexa boss remains notably bullish about building and scaling in London. “Yes, we’re HQ’d in London, in the UK, [...]
Raging cricket ticket row as England fans to take over Newlands, South Africa May 19, 2026 A raging ticketing row has broken out in South Africa over England’s Test tour this winter, with the tourists’ fans being blamed for bagging thousands of tickets. Tickets were due to go on sale this week for the festive fixture at Newlands Cricket Ground but locals reported that tickets for the first four days of [...]
Google and Blackstone take aim at Nvidia in $5bn AI bet May 19, 2026 Alphabet’s Google and Blackstone are launching a $5bn (£3.7bn) AI infrastructure firm in one of the clearest signs yet that Big Tech is trying to loosen Nvidia’s grip on the AI boom. The deal, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will see the pair create a new US-based AI cloud and data centre [...]