Reeves delivers Spring Statement as war rages and markets tremble March 3, 2026 Spare a thought for Rachel Reeves. She had hoped to make a Spring Statement that nobody noticed and yet today she has to deliver it as war rages in the Middle East, triggering warnings of energy price shocks, instability and inflation. There is a very real prospect that the economic forecasts to which the Chancellor [...]
Greens close gap with Labour in polls after historic by-election win March 3, 2026 The Greens are now biting at the heels of the Labour Party in national polling after its candidate Hannah Spencer stormed to a historic by-election win in Gorton and Denton last week. The latest Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll puts the Greens on 15 per cent, with Labour ahead of them by three points, a smaller [...]
Meet Reeves’ outsider tasked with steering the City to growth March 3, 2026 The City has rolled out the red carpet for the banking watchdog’s new chief after Katharine Braddick, a seasoned veteran of the financial trenches, was named on Friday as the successor to Sam Woods. For a cool £314,000 a year, she’s set to take on the brief of steering the UK’s banking sector. Chancellor Rachel [...]
Reeves to deliver ‘stability’ Spring Statement amid turmoil in Iran March 3, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver a Spring Statement trumpeting the UK’s economic stability against the backdrop of a war in the Middle East, with official forecasts expected to touch on lower growth, falling inflation and higher unemployment over the coming months. In an address to the House of Commons around 12.30pm today, Reeves [...]
Trump and Starmer in row over use of UK military bases March 2, 2026 President Trump has said he is “very disappointed” in Sir Keir Starmer after the UK initially refused to allow the US to use military bases to organise attacks on Iran over the weekend. Trump has said the Prime Minister “took far too long” to change his mind in allowing military bases to be used after [...]
Badenoch: Starmer’s refusal to back US strikes a ‘pure political calculation’ March 2, 2026 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of initially refusing to allow the US to use its military bases for strikes on Iran for “political” reasons rather than legal ones. In a speech at Policy Exchange, the centre-right think tank, Badenoch said the UK’s response to the conflict in the Middle East had [...]
Dow Jones slides as FTSE 100 extends losses amid Iran strikes March 2, 2026 Wall Street joined Europe as markets opened on Monday with losses spread across the board as tensions escalated across the Middle East. The Dow Jones dropped nearly one per cent on open to 48,534.58 whilst the S&P 500 shed around 0.7 per cent to 6,828.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 0.7 per cent to 22,505.32. In [...]
Lawyers raise red flags over Labour’s non-compete shake-up March 2, 2026 The future of non-compete clauses in the UK is at a crossroads, with the government considering major reforms, but lawyers warn that this could lead to unintended consequences for both businesses and workers. Non-compete clauses in the UK restrict employees from joining competitors post-employment, but are enforceable only if reasonable in scope, duration, and geography to [...]
‘Attention, please’: Rachel Reeves hails rail fare freeze over Liverpool Street tannoy March 2, 2026 Commuters arriving into Liverpool Street station have been serenaded by the Chancellor’s voice today. Rachel Reeves has taken over the key City transport artery to share the news of a freeze to rail fares – the first in 30 years. In a message read out over the tannoy periodically throughout Monday, Reeves opens with: “Testing, [...]
UK firms deliberately halting growth to dodge VAT March 2, 2026 Thousands of businesses are deliberately constraining their growth to remain below the £90,000 threshold at which firms start paying VAT. City accounting firm Lubbock Fine has argued that the government should raise the threshold to £115,000, the level it would be if it had increased in line with inflation since 2017. The VAT threshold was [...]