Spending Review is a chance to escape managed decline – will Reeves take it? June 11, 2025 Instead of repeating the same lines we’ve heard at every Spending Review since the financial crash, Rachel Reeves should challenge fundamental assumptions about the role of the state, says Joe Hill Today the Chancellor will announce her first full Spending Review – allocating government budgets over the next three years. It’s a defining moment for [...]
Reeves vows to ‘renew’ Britain as Tories say it’s just ‘borrow and spend’ June 10, 2025 Rachel Reeves is expected to focus on regional growth as she unveils £113bn in capital investment as part of her Spending Review on Wednesday. The Chancellor will outline some of the government’s key priorities and will pledge investment aimed at ensuring “people can see a doctor when they need one, know that they are secure [...]
Unemployment creeps up as firms cut jobs following Reeves tax raid June 10, 2025 The unemployment rate has crept up to 4.6 per cent from 4.5 per cent, official data has revealed, putting Chancellor Reeves’ ambition of growing the UK economy and getting people into work under threat. It is the highest unemployment rate in three years, with the UK economy then recovering from the pandemic. Figures released by [...]
Ouch: Three tech firms bail out of the UK in a single day June 10, 2025 The Prime Minister did his best to sound bullish about the future of the UK tech sector yesterday as he opened London Tech Week. Some awkward technical issues with his autocue didn’t put him off his stride as he declared that Britain was “unequivocally, unashamedly and defiantly open for business.” Leaving aside the bizarre idea [...]
Government urged to add AI minister to every department June 10, 2025 The UK government has been urged to create an AI oversight body with ministerial posts dedicated to advanced technology, with former Tory leader William Hague calling on the “very structures of government” to be re-imagined in the coming years. A new Policy Exchange report calls on the government to create a new Office for Superintelligence [...]
Bargain basement Britain: Tech takeovers continue with three billion-pound swoops in a day June 9, 2025 The frenzy of UK tech takeovers showed no signs of slowing down on Monday after three separate billion-pound M&A moves were made within hours of each other as US tech giants continued their hunt for British bargains. First to announce a move on Monday was London-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave, which confirmed it had reached an [...]
London Tech Week day 1: why the world comes to London June 9, 2025 With speakers from Keir Starmer to Jensen Huang, London Tech Week demonstrates the convening power of the capital, says Russ Shaw London Tech Week 2025 is officially underway, with over 30,000 attendees from 125 countries descending on the capital for a week of big ideas, ambitious founders and frontier technologies. As investors, policymakers and global [...]
London Tech Week: Accenture warns of AI divide as Starmer launches tech skills plan June 9, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer may sound like he is making the right noises for the tech sector with his flagship pledge at London Tech Week to train one million students in AI – but new data highlights a stark regional divide has already taken shape. London is rapidly pulling away from the rest of the country [...]
Voters fear Reeves tax U-turn after Spending Review splash out June 9, 2025 UK voters are worried Chancellor Rachel Reeves will betray Labour manifesto pledges not to hike income tax, a new poll has suggested, as the government looks set to ramp up investment at Wednesday’s spending review. Sir Keir Starmer has declared that the government cannot “tax [its] way to growth” while ministers have said the spending [...]
Winter fuel payments to return for 9m pensioners in £1.3bn Labour u-turn June 9, 2025 The winter fuel payment will be handed out to 9m pensioners whose income falls below £35,000 a year, the Treasury has revealed, in a £1.25bn blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ chances of keeping her £9.9bn headroom intact.