Kemi Badenoch: My approach will “pay off eventually” October 5, 2025 Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has insisted her approach to changing the struggling party will “pay off eventually” as she battles dwindling voter support. In an interview with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch stressed that she would not “rush out” new policies and instead take the time needed to “get it right”. She acknowledged that the Conservative [...]
Rachel Reeves mulls hiring ‘outsider’ for banking watchdog role October 4, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to hire a City heavyweight to succeed Sam Woods as the chief executive of the main banking watchdog once his term ends in the middle of next year, it has been reported. Sam Woods’ term as chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the watchdog which is part of [...]
‘Subdued’ services sector suffers steep drop as tax hikes bite October 3, 2025 Business activity expansion fell to a five-month low after a “subdued” services sector experienced a dull end to the third quarter. S&P’s UK Services Purchasing Managers Index Business Activity tumbled to 50.8 in September, falling steeply from the 16-month high of 54.2 secured in August. “This summer’s acceleration in output growth is now looking like [...]
OBR hands Rachel Reeves first damning pre-Budget report on UK economy October 3, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has handed Chancellor Rachel Reeves its first evaluation of the state of the UK economy and crippled public finances, setting policy discussions about likely £30bn tax rises and possible savings in motion. The OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee, which consists of the economists Richard Hughes, David Miles and Tom Josephs, [...]
Explainer: Why are energy prices so high? October 2, 2025 Energy prices for consumers across the UK rose again this month. Ofgem, the energy regulator, set the maximum annual rate for an average household for gas and electricity at £1,755 until the end of the year. The cap is now over £600 higher than when it was first introduced in 2019. Under the cap, [...]
Tories vow to scrap net zero targets and prioritise cheap energy October 2, 2025 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has vowed to scrap legislation forcing the government to achieve net zero by 2050 promising instead to prioritise “cheap and reliable” energy if elected to government. The Climate Change Act was first passed in 2008 before being amended in 2019 under Theresa May’s government to include a legally-binding target to reach [...]
Remove windfall taxes on North Sea oil, bosses tell Rachel Reeves October 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abolish windfall taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, top bosses have said. In a new report setting out UK businesses’ proposals for the Budget, the Chancellor has been urged to focus on cutting energy costs for firms and set out a clearer plan for the North Sea’s [...]
Labour is in denial about the economy October 2, 2025 The recent Labour conference as an exercise in denial, revealing a party plagued by internal divisions and lacking a coherent economic plan, says Helen Thomas As the Labour conference drew to a close, one word dominated the mood: denial. Denial of the scale of Britain’s economic challenges. Denial of the fault lines within the party [...]
Exclusive: Peter Kyle says Employment Rights critics ‘come from certain educational backgrounds’ October 2, 2025 Business secretary Peter Kyle has dismissed critics of the Employment Rights Bill as people on an “above average income” and those who have not had an “ordinary experience in the economy”. Labour’s workers’ rights package has faced staunch opposition from CEOs as well as top business groups including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and [...]
Andrew Bailey’s stablecoin U-turn hailed as ‘positive step’ October 1, 2025 Andrew Bailey has issued a major climb down on stablecoins after previously being accused of “killing” the country’s ambitions with “prescriptive” views. The Bank of England governor – who has been branded a “dinosaur” by Reform’s Nigel Farage for archaic views on crypto assets – has now said the UK should “reap the benefits” of [...]