Reeves to hold talks with US as Trump says ‘no rush’ to strike deals April 18, 2025 Rachel Reeves has said she will hold talks with the White House next week amid efforts to strike a UK-US trade deal, despite Donald Trump downplaying the likelihood of any imminent agreements. Britain hopes a deal can help soften the brunt of the US president’s sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on all goods imported to [...]
Reeves weighs tech tax overhaul to avert US tariffs March 23, 2025 The UK government is exploring potential adjustments to its digital services tax (DST) to avert further tariffs from the US, Rachel Reeves confirmed. The DST, which targets global tech heavyweights like Meta, Google and Amazon, has raised around £800m a year since its introduction in 2020. Yet, with President Donald Trump set to announce new [...]
Reeves to announce £2bn defence boost to secure more orders from allies March 14, 2025 The government has pledged an extra £2bn to support UK defence exporters in a bid to unlock more orders from international allies. This increases the lending capacity of the UK Export Finance’s (UKEF), the country’s official export credit agency, to £10bn. The UKEF’s Direct Lending scheme provides loans to other countries, which allow them to [...]
UK markets being ‘gradually undermined’ by tax regime – Interactive Investor boss March 10, 2025 The current tax regime is making UK markets “just about tradable” and are leading to their “gradual undermining”, according to the chief executive of Interactive Investor*. Speaking in the latest episode of Morning Wire‘s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, Richard Wilson said his company has seen an increase in more investors trading in foreign markets instead of [...]
Rich people’s problems: Confidence in economy hits record low among wealthy Brits February 13, 2025 Confidence in the economy among high net worth Brits has tanked since the election of a Labour government last summer, according to data from the Saltus Wealth Index. The study, which questioned 2,000 people in the UK with assets of £250,000 or more, revealed just under half – 48 per cent – of these so-called [...]
Reeves reviews tech tax as Trump trade war fears mount February 4, 2025 Rachel Reeves is reviewing the UK’s £700m digital services tax (DST) on American tech giants in a bid to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs. The DST, which was introduced in April 2020, imposed a two per cent levy on UK revenues of major tech leaders like Amazon, Apple and Google. The US previously expressed strong opposition, [...]
AIM and Aquis: London’s junior stock markets under threat without ‘urgent action’ from Reeves January 30, 2025 The government must take “urgent action” to revive London’s junior stock markets AIM and Aquis or risk more firms flooding overseas this year, a top City group has warned. In a new report today, The City UK, a trade body representing the UK’s financial services sector, called on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and financial regulators [...]
Reeves to water down non-dom changes as scale of exodus revealed January 23, 2025 Rachel Reeves has confirmed she will alter some of the more controversial non-dom reforms announced in the Autumn Budget. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Chancellor committed to tabling an amendment to the Finance Bill removing some of the most contentious elements of its changes to non-dom taxation. Answering a question from [...]
PRA under pressure to cut red tape as growth plans fail to excite the City January 22, 2025 The banking regulator is under pressure to go further and faster in its efforts to cut red tape from the City after it outlined plans to boost the growth of firms within its remit last week. In a letter to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, the PRA, which sits within the Bank of England and [...]
FCA chair: Our growth push will test UK’s risk appetite January 20, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) push to slash red tape and unleash growth in the City will test the UK’s appetite for risk, its chair has warned, accepting that two of its new proposals could open the door to more fraud and mortgage defaults. Writing in Morning Wire today, Ashley Alder said the FCA will [...]