Labour’s National Wealth Fund a misnomer, MPs told June 18, 2025 Labour’s National Wealth Fund faced renewed calls for clarity on Wednesday as the Treasury Committee continued its inquiry into the government’s new body. The government’s rebrand of the National Wealth Fund (NWF) from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) in October 2024 has raised questions amid confusion of the two bodies’ remits. Academics and think tank [...]
Thwaites ‘extremely nervous’ Rachel Reeves will raise taxes in Autumn Budget June 17, 2025 Beer brewer Thwaites is “extremely nervous” about the possibility of Chancellor Rachel Reeves raising taxes further in her Autumn Budget. The Lancashire-headquartered group, which also owns pubs and hotels, added its industry is “under tremendous pressure” from Reeves’ first Autumn Budget due to the increases in the National Minimum Wage and the employer’s National Insurance [...]
UK Science Minister calls for stronger US-UK health tech alliance June 17, 2025 UK science minister Lord Patrick Vallance has urged the US and UK to deepen ties across the health tech and life sciences sectors, calling the move a “unique opportunity” to unlock economic growth and medical innovation on both sides of the Atlantic. Speaking at the BIO 2025 global biotech conference in Boston, Vallance told delegates [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes lead to spike in pubs going bust June 16, 2025 The series of tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget last year has contributed to a spike in pubs going bust across the UK in April, according to new figures. A total of 67 pubs closed down during the month – the highest number since July 2024 when 75 entered insolvency [...]
Was Reeves’ Spending Review a fintech endorsement? June 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves has promised to back UK fintech and in Labour’s inaugural Spending Review, she piled billions into the tech sector. The Chancellor handed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) a hefty £16.5bn budget as she took the chop to other departments. DSIT’s expenditure limit is set to grow 7.4 per cent by [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes force Timothy Taylor to raise price of a pint June 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes have forced brewer Timothy Taylor to raise its prices as it slammed the “hostile fiscal and regulatory environment” it now faces. The family-owned brewer said its industry is facing “significant input and labour cost increases” as well as dealing with the fall in business rates relief. Timothy Taylor added that it [...]
Reeves’ spending spree could open £20bn gap – which taxes will rise? June 12, 2025 Rachel Reeves splashed the taxpayer cash in her inaugural Spending Review, raising expectations the Chancellor may be coming back for more tax revenue in the Autumn if her growth ambitions are not met. Reeves is set to hand out an extra £190bn in government spending over the course of the parliament, in what she described [...]
Spending Review: Colossal £25bn for HS2 eclipses other transport pledges June 11, 2025 HS2’s colossal funding package eclipses all other railway investment pledges that Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her Spending Review. Reeves pledged £3.5bn investment into the Transpennine route upgrade and £2.5bn for East-West rail as part of the Spending Review. The Chancellor also set out plans to “take forward” the UK’s ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail, [...]
Spending Review: Whitehall faces axe to fund Reeves’ spending spree June 11, 2025 Dramatic real terms cuts to departments such as the Home Office and the Department for Transport are to fund Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ multi-billion pound spending packages on the NHS and AI technology. Reeves told MPs on Wednesday afternoon that the government would spend taxpayers’ money with “care” as she said the government had been “relentless” [...]
Spending Review: Reeves promises UK will become defence ‘superpower’ June 11, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged the UK will become a “defence industrial superpower” as she confirmed military spending would rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) by April 2027. Unveiling the government’s much-anticipated Spending Review, Reeves told the House of Commons: “A new era in the threats we face demands a new [...]