CMA handed ‘strategic steer’ as government pushes pro-growth agenda May 15, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has been handed a “strategic steer” from Downing Street as the government pushes regulators to adopt its pro-growth agenda. The strategic steer, which is issued to regulators each parliament, sets out the government’s priorities for regulators and how they engage with the private sector. According to the Treasury, the steer “resets [...]
Boost for Rachel Reeves as UK economy booms in first quarter May 15, 2025 The UK economy surged by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, official data has shown, suggesting firms boosted production ahead of Rachel Reeves’s tax rises in April and the threat of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Fresh data provided by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy grew [...]
London Cypriots to get visit from President in ‘brain gain’ push May 15, 2025 The President of Cyprus will visit Cypriot citizens based in London next week offering them generous tax incentives to return home. The relocation push – dubbed the ‘Brain Gain’ – is backed up with pledges of help with education, housing and free healthcare to lure skilled workers among Britain’s 300,000-strong diaspora back to their home [...]
China could gatecrash Starmer’s diplomatic party May 15, 2025 Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that the UK doesn’t need to choose between strengthening economic and trade ties with the US and deepening them with the EU. A few weeks ago, concern was growing in Whitehall that if the UK didn’t strike a deal with America then the chance of a tariff rapprochement could be [...]
‘Investment magnet’ financial services injected £281bn in UK economy May 15, 2025 Financial services injected £281bn into the UK economy and accounted for around 2.5m jobs, according to a new industry-led report. The sector, which is an essential component of business in the Square Mile and manages trillions of pounds in assets, has had to steer through several rocky years of Brexit negotiations, a pandemic and tariff [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund hounded with calls for clarity May 15, 2025 Labour’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) faced renewed pressure on Wednesday as the Treasury Committee kicked off its inquiry into the new body. The NWF’s ability to boost economic growth across the country was the subject of questions posed by MPs to investment industry leaders. Its status as a “wealth fund” came under fire against comparisons [...]
Green belt homes ‘needed’ to solve housing crisis, Sadiq Khan says May 15, 2025 London is suffering a chronic housing shortage. Lacklustre rates of housebuilding have helped push up the cost of a home to well beyond the reach of ordinary Londoners. The price of an average terrace house in Camden has roughly tripled compared to twenty years ago to more than £1.5m today, Land Registry data shows, while [...]
CMA must tackle Apple and Google duopoly to ‘unlock UK growth’ May 15, 2025 One of the UK’s leading left-wing think tanks has called on the government to strengthen the powers of the competition regulator to curb the dominance of tech giants like Apple and Google. It has warned that their stranglehold on app marketplaces is holding back innovation, investment, and growth in the British economy. In a new [...]
UK dismisses Chinese concerns on trade May 14, 2025 The UK government has rejected Chinese criticism of its newly-inked US trade deal, in an effort to allay worries that ties between the world’s second largest economy and Britain would deteriorate. Labour have said that China’s economy was not being intentionally “undermined” in the deal, which saw tariffs on steel fall to zero per cent [...]
Public trust in pensions declines for the first time in five years May 14, 2025 The government is facing a fresh headache in its pension reform plans as new research shows trust in the industry declined for the first time in five years. Average trust in the industry has dipped to 5.23 out of 10, from a peak of 5.26, according to the fifth Trust and Confidence Index released by [...]