Thousands face fines after HMRC misses CGT update August 29, 2025 Tax experts have warned that “tens of thousands” of people could fall foul of penalties this year after tech issues left HMRC’s online filing system unable to properly reflect the recent changes to capital gains tax as implemented in Rachel Reeves’ first budget last year. The chancellor’s Autumn Budget increased CGT rates on disposals of [...]
Living standards warning: ‘the decade looks bleak’ June 26, 2025 British families will not see their income grow in the next five years while pensioners will be £1,500 better off, economic researchers have projected in a “bleak” analysis that cast a shadow over government plans to boost households’ budgets. Chancellor Reeves claimed at this year’s Spring Statement that Britons would be £500 better off each [...]
Cash ISAs: Record £14bn piled in after rumoured cut from Reeves June 2, 2025 A record £14bn was put into cash ISAs in April as the new tax year kicked off, fresh figures from the Bank of England show, marking the highest amount since April 1999. The ballooning savings follow speculation over the fate of cash ISAs amid rumours of a cut to the allowance. In the Spring Statement [...]
Reeves’ impossible mission to save the public finances – in four charts May 22, 2025 Government borrowing spiked in April, according to official data, in a stark illustration of the difficult fiscal tightrope that the Chancellor Reeves is walking. The £20.2bn in monthly borrowing was steeper than economists’ prediction of £18bn. So, Reeves might have shivered when she heard Keir Starmer tell the House of Commons winter fuel payments would [...]
Reeves warned against bank tax raid May 21, 2025 Rachel Reeves has been warned of the growth consequences of upping tax on lenders after a leaked memo from Angela Rayner called for the Chancellor to launch a cash grab on banks. Reeves was sent a memo by the Deputy Prime Minister ahead of the spring Statement, which called for an annual £700m hike on [...]
Reeves’ risky borrowing policies prompt fresh tax hike fears May 20, 2025 Tax hike fears are gathering pace as rising borrowing costs are set to wipe out around half of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ small £9.9bn headroom, a leading economics consultancy has warned. Reeves made around £14bn in spending cuts at her Spring Statement two months ago but left herself with one of the slimmest fiscal buffers on [...]
Week in Business: Why Britain needs reform May 8, 2025 In light of current difficulties and long-term challenges, the UK economy needs a dose of radical reform - but who will have that conversation?
Rachel Reeves approval rating one point above Trump with UK voters, poll finds April 7, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ approval ratings have slumped since March leaving her just one point more popular than US President Donald Trump with UK voters, a poll has found. The Chancellor’s net approval ratings have declined by 12 points since delivering her Spring Statement last month, leaving Reeves at net -43, just one point above Trump on [...]
It’s Rayner to the rescue but who will build Labour’s 1.3m homes? April 2, 2025 Labour’s only hope for growth is new housebuilding – but Britain doesn’t have the workforce to deliver even the newly downgraded targets. There is an obvious solution, says Jamila Robertson In the Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves acknowledged that she will no longer be able to meet the government’s manifesto pledge to build 1.5m homes by [...]
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ could wipe out Rachel Reeves’ fiscal headroom April 1, 2025 A mere week after Rachel Reeves told the Commons she had restored her fiscal headroom, Trump’s planned ‘Liberation Day’ tariff deluge could send a wrecking ball through the Chancellor’s buffer. Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has downgraded Britain’s economic growth outlook ahead of the President launching a fresh set of tariffs that could smash Reeves’ [...]