Rachel Reeves mulls second booze tax hike November 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering an increase in taxes on alcohol in line with a higher reading of inflation in a repeat of last year’s Budget, according to reports. Reeves could hike duties by the retail prices index (RPI) inflation rate in a bid to raise more cash to fill an estimated £30bn fiscal hole [...]
Three quarters of Brits think UK ‘heading in wrong direction’ as Budget looms November 12, 2025 The UK is heading in the wrong direction, most Brits believe, in the latest sign of rising gloom about the state of the country’s economy. A Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll has shown that 76 per cent of voters are pessimistic about the future of the country, the highest level of pessimism recorded since our polling [...]
Laddering savings: A smarter approach November 11, 2025 Savers face a consistent dilemma: whether to lock money in for longer to secure today’s rate or keep it flexible in case conditions change. A laddering strategy manages both. It’s a simple premise: instead of putting all your savings into one fixed term account, they are spread across products with different maturities. When one matures, [...]
Firms’ inflation fears highest in two years amid interest rate hold November 6, 2025 Firms’ long-term inflation fears are at their highest level since the end of 2023, a Bank of England survey revealed on Thursday, prompting the majority of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members to vote for interest rates to be held. On an average reading in the three months to October, business leaders’ inflation expectations for the [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates at four per cent amid Budget fears November 6, 2025 The Bank of England has held interest rates at four per cent amid caution around high inflation levels ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ crucial Budget in three weeks. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 5-4 to hold interest rates as Governor Andrew Bailey, who made the deciding call at the latest meeting, said he [...]
Andrew Bailey: Bank of England Governor to have ‘deciding vote’ on interest rates November 5, 2025 Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is set to have the deciding vote on whether to slash interest rates by 25 basis points, analysts have said. The Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold at four per cent but several analysts have said the decision is on a knife-edge, with four Monetary Policy [...]
Cut interest rates by 25 basis points, Shadow MPC says November 5, 2025 Top economists on Morning Wire’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have called for interest rates to be cut to 3.75 per cent in a narrow 5-4 vote. Economists from academia, business and City giants have said that the UK’s weakening demand and easing price pressures suggested the Bank of England should look to cut interest [...]
Bank of England expected to hold interest rates in tight decision November 4, 2025 The Bank of England is expected to hold interest rates at four per cent despite some City forecasters suggesting that the votes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could tilt towards a 25 basis point cut. City traders believe the Bank will keep interest rates on hold to curb high inflation, which is nearly double [...]
UK unemployment rate to hit 5 per cent next year, EY predicts November 3, 2025 The UK’s unemployment rate is set to rise to five per cent in the beginning of next year before falling back, a leading forecaster has said. In its latest update on forecasts for UK growth, EY ITEM Club has suggested that the UK jobs market is set to see a further decline in the next [...]
Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation? October 30, 2025 For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK [...]