Greg Jackson urges Labour to exploit North Sea oil as UK ‘stares down barrel’ of energy price shock March 5, 2026 Octopus founder and government adviser Greg Jackson has urged Labour to “use what’s available” in the North Sea and rethink its key net zero policies. Jackson said the county was “staring down the barrel” of an energy price shock in light of the conflict in the Middle East. The Octopus chief executive who is also [...]
Watch: War brings Reeves’ failures into focus March 5, 2026 War in the Middle East rendered the Chancellor’s Spring Statement “irrelevant” according to City analysts as the economic impacts of the Iran conflict become frighteningly clear. Rachel Reeves made just a passing mention of the Iran war when she addressed MPs on Tuesday, referring briefly to global instability while trying to paint a picture of [...]
Entain losses deepen as Budget gambling tax bites March 5, 2026 Britain’s new gambling tax regime has delivered an early sting for Entain, pushing the Ladbrokes owner to a wider annual loss even as its core betting business continued to grow. The FTSE-listed bookmaker said it swung to a loss of £681m for 2025, compared with £461m a year earlier, after booking a £488m impairment linked to [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Airline shares fall after Wizz Air profit warning; Primark new boss March 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Global markets returned to a touch of stability on Wednesday as energy prices retreated as investors awaited the latest on the events in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 ended the day 0.8 per cent higher at 10,567.65p – still far below it’s level at [...]
Reeves is outrageously complacent on economic growth March 5, 2026 The dust has settled on the Chancellor’s pointless Spring Statement and, if anything, it looks even worse in the rear-view mirror than it did in real time. Yesterday, top think-tanks and policy wonks chewed over the claims made by Rachel Reeves in her panglossian speech to MPs, and they don’t appear to be overly impressed. [...]
Pub industry ‘screaming for a reset’ amid wave of closures, says Shepherd Neame boss March 5, 2026 The beer and pub industry is “screaming for a reset”, the boss of the UK’s oldest brewer has warned, as companies brace for more venue closures under the strain of sharp tax hikes and minimum wage rises. Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Aquis-listed Shepherd Neame, which traces its roots back to 1698, said the “real [...]
Bank of England could raise interest rates over Iran energy price shock March 4, 2026 The Bank of England could raise interest rates this year if energy prices fail to return to levels seen before the start of America’s war with Iran, leading economists have warned. Analysts across the City and at Westminster think tanks have suggested that higher inflation caused by disruption in oil and gas movements across the [...]
Labour urged to give HENRYs a hand to boost investment March 4, 2026 The sheer tax cliff-edge facing workers earning £100,000 or more is harming the UK’s ambitions to foster greater retail investment, according to IG. New research from the online investment platform found that HENRYs, an acronym which stands for High Earner, Not Rich Yet, are unable to invest as much as they would like due to [...]
The £100k tax cliff edge is punishing ambition March 4, 2026 The £100,000 income cliff edge has become one of the most punitive and distortionary features of the UK tax landscape, says Michael Healy The government has made clear that it wants to boost economic growth, strengthen UK capital markets, and encourage greater participation in investing. These are ambitions we strongly support. But one part of [...]
Starmer refuses to reveal date of defence investment plan March 4, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer hit back at criticism the UK government was not spending enough on defence amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East putting RAF jets and British nationals at risk. The Prime Minister declined to reveal when the much-anticipated defence investment plan would be published as Kemi Badenoch centred her attacks on the [...]