Grow, baby, grow… but will Labour’s growth agenda be enough? January 29, 2025 Morning Wire’s politics reporter, Jessica Frank-Keyes, unpacks the week in Westminster. Today, she tackles Labour’s growing promises. Picture a graph with the x axis stretching from 1800 to the present day. The data is represented as a fairly flat line along the bottom, up to about 1960. Then it bumps around at about a quarter [...]
Rachel Reeves vows to fight for economic growth January 28, 2025 The Chancellor will declare that “growth won’t come without a fight” as she unveils her plan to turnaround Britain’s ailing economy with billions of pounds of investment and new infrastructure projects. Reeves will pledge an £80bn boom to the economy from a new Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor in a move that comes after the pensions industry [...]
Immigration to lift population by 5m and boost the economy January 28, 2025 Based on current trends, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests the population will hit 72.5m by mid-2032, over seven per cent higher than in 2022.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer claims the UK economy is ‘turning around’ January 28, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK economy is “turning around” as the government attempts to turn the page on a bruising first six months in power. “The number one priority of this Labour government is growth: growth, growth, growth,” Starmer said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We have to get our economy working. [...]
CMA chair pledges to speed up decision-making after government backlash January 28, 2025 The new chair of the competition watchdog has pledged to speed up its decision making and bring in outside expertise as part of plans to reshape the agency following months of criticism. Doug Gurr, a former Amazon executive who was parachuted in to lead the body after ministers ousted his predecessor last week, said “lengthy [...]
Morgan Stanley: Bank of England to cut interest rates five times in 2025 January 28, 2025 The US investment bank slashed its growth forecasts on Monday, citing both the lingering impact of the Bank's monetary tightening and the fallout from the Budget.
Glaring contradiction at heart of government growth agenda January 28, 2025 In the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (stay with me) the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading were abolished, and in their place emerged the Competition and Markets Authority. The 2013 Act enshrined the regulator’s remit and responsibilities, with a hefty focus on protecting consumers. On the CMA’s website, they summarise [...]
Pension industry backs Reeves’ £160bn investment drive January 28, 2025 The pensions industry has said it is willing to back the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to unlock up to £160bn in corporate surpluses if retirees are given “appropriate protection” by the government. Reeves and the Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to meet with business leaders in Canada today to outline pension [...]
Nearly a million extra savers face shock tax bills January 28, 2025 Almost 1m more savers could be hit with shock tax bills this year, Shawbrook Bank has warned – unless they keep their cash in an ISA. More than 6m savers will pay tax on interest in 2025, up 800,000 from the number of savers who had to pay tax on interest last year. This is [...]
How to shield your pension from Labour’s inheritance tax raid January 27, 2025 Financial advisers are cautioning against taking extreme measures in response to the government’s plans to slap inheritance tax on unspent pension pots from April 2027. However, there are some measures that savers can take as part of their overall estate planning strategy. Pension pots are usually exempt from inheritance tax. But in last October’s Budget, [...]