Where are Andy Burnham’s economic advisers? August 5, 2026 Andy Burnham’s allies boasted that highly-regarded economists had been lured as advisers. Mauricio Alencar and Ali Lyon report on the non-appointments of some of Britain’s best economists – and what the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s new teams look like. In the end, all it took was a few rumours. In the weeks leading up to [...]
Big bank bosses on alert as tax noise gets louder under Burnham August 5, 2026 Banks have delivered booming profits for the first half of the year. In this week’s column Samuel Norman takes a look at how the calls for a tax rise on the sector will get louder under the new Prime Minister. “The saxophones are getting louder” is the internet’s new saying to depict growing anxiety. If you [...]
Rupert Lowe axes pensions triple lock and pledges tax cuts in economic plan August 4, 2026 Rupert Lowe, the hard right leader of the Restore Britain party, has said he would back scrapping the triple lock pension and ordering three-year freezes on departmental budgets. Lowe, who has mainly focused on the issue of immigration since breaking from Reform UK over a year ago, published a pamphlet outlining his new party’s economic [...]
Metro Bank profit jumps as it bucks branch closure trend August 4, 2026 Metro Bank secured its highest half-year profit on record in the first six months of 2026 as it bucked an industry-wide trend of branch closures and grew its small business offering. The FTSE 250 bank recorded a £60.7m pre-tax profit, up 41 per cent from the same period last year. This was driven by a [...]
HSBC kicks off $1bn share buyback after profit smashes forecast August 4, 2026 HSBC has resumed its share buyback programme after profit soared past expectations in the second quarter of 2026. The FTSE 100 bank – whose market cap of £274bn makes it the London Stock Exchange’s most valuable company – posted $10.1bn (£7.5bn) in pre-tax profit for the last three months, surging past an internal forecast of [...]
As it happened: Oil prices tumble as Bessent says US-Iran deal imminent; miner stocks rally August 4, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog. The price of oil tumbled on Tuesday afternoon after a senior Trump ally said that a deal over control of the Strait of Hormuz could be agreed with Iran in the coming days. The price of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – tumbled [...]
What are we to make of John Healey? Time will tell. August 4, 2026 Who exactly is in charge of this government’s economic policy? In a bid to find out, I’ve tasked two of our journalists to hit the phones, mooch around the bars of Whitehall and track down Westminster’s new power brokers. I’ll let you know what we find out, but he fact that the answer to this [...]
UK founders cast doubt on Burnham’s pro-business push August 4, 2026 The majority of Britain’s top scale-up founders believe business conditions will not improve under Andy Burnham as just one in 20 entrepreneurs feel the new PM backs the private sector. New research by Helm, a membership group of over 400 scale-up founders, suggested that a substantial number of its members were pessimistic about Burnham’s premiership. [...]
Oil price falls but Trump and Iran clash on negotiations claim August 3, 2026 The price of oil has drifted lower after Donald Trump called off strikes on Iran but progress towards a finalised peace deal continues to stall as the President clashes with Iran’s leadership. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – tumbled over five per cent on Monday to below $83 per barrel as [...]
Manufacturers overcome gloomy economy as output surge continues August 3, 2026 Manufacturers have overcome a gloomy economic outlook across the country as businesses boosted production to levels not seen in almost two years, new data has revealed. According to S&P Global’s monthly survey of output across manufacturers, business activity continued to increase in what was the ninth consecutive month of growth in the sector. The purchasing [...]