Starmer says UK government must ‘rise to the moment’ on tariffs April 10, 2025 The UK government needs to “rise to the moment”, Sir Keir Starmer said, adding that he would not “pretend” US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are “good news”. Speaking this morning after Trump announced a 90-day pause in his sweeping global tariffs, while raising his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent, the Prime [...]
UK private equity deals crash to pandemic lows April 10, 2025 UK private equity deals crashed to their lowest level since 2020 in the first quarter of this year, as a tepid IPO market and geopolitical uncertainty continued to hamper dealmaking. There were only 320 private equity deals in the first quarter of 2025, totalling £18bn, compared to 534 deals totalling £28.2bn in the quarter before, [...]
Exclusive: Former Bank of England policymaker calls for interest rates to be held amid high inflation April 10, 2025 A former Bank of England rate-setter has suggested that high inflation levels call for interest rates to be held at 4.5 per cent in May. The majority of investors and analysts are expecting the Bank to cut interest rates next month to ease low growth concerns, with up to three more cuts priced in until [...]
Exclusive: City firms matched with UK diplomats in growth push April 10, 2025 Top City firms including Big Four consultancies are hosting Foreign Office diplomats as part of the department’s efforts to become the “salesforce for UK plc”. More than 100 diplomats and representatives from professional services firms, including KPMG and EY, have been paired up in a bid to improve British business representation overseas. The scheme was [...]
Come back non-doms, all is forgiven April 10, 2025 I write this sitting in the morning sunshine in a cafe in central Milan, where I’m one day into my new life as a beneficiary of their special tax regime for high net worth individuals, meaning that in exchange for a mere €200,000 a year I can protect my overseas sources of wealth and income [...]
Fresh headache for Rachel Reeves as UK gilt yields spike to 1998 levels April 9, 2025 UK gilts have spiked to 30-year highs after a selloff in US Treasuries sent government bond markets worldwide spiralling. The yield on 30-year gilts spiked to 5.68 per cent this afternoon, before falling back slightly to 5.62 per cent, well above the previous multi-decade high of 5.47 per cent reached in January. The movement has [...]
US tariffs: Reeves stresses ‘imperative’ to improve UK-EU trading relations April 9, 2025 Rachel Reeves has stressed it is “imperative” for the UK to improve its trading relationship with the European Union (EU), amid US President Donald Trump’s global trade tariff war. The Chancellor’s comments emerged in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) ahead of a crucial summit with EU leaders in London next month. Reeves told [...]
City slashes UK growth forecasts radically in wake of Trump tariffs April 9, 2025 City forecasters have radically cut UK growth forecasts as President Donald Trump’s tariffs are widely expected to cause great damage to the global economy. Markets across Europe are sliding again today after tariffs came into effect, a clear sign that economists and investors are fearing hits to profit. New research by the polling firm Consensus [...]
FTSE 100 live: Market turmoil intensifies as China retaliates April 9, 2025 The UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 slumped more than four per cent today as the global stock market rout that began at the end of last week continued.
Tariffs could destabilise UK financial system, Bank of England warns April 9, 2025 President Donald Trump’s global trade war is likely to destabilise the UK’s financial system, but the Bank of England has said banks will be able to cope with the shocks. The Bank’s policymakers also warned that the break-up of global trade would lower resilience and depress growth. The Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which monitors risks [...]