Liz Kendall unveils welfare reform package aimed at saving £5bn by 2030 March 18, 2025 Liz Kendall has unveiled a major package of reforms to the UK’s welfare system with the aim of saving the government £5bn by 2030.
VR headsets and sliders kick DVDs and turkey out of inflation basket March 18, 2025 VR headsets, yoga mats and sliders have been added to the inflation basket of goods as DVD rentals and minced turkey have been knocked off. The items included in the consumer price inflation (CPI) basket of goods and services, which is compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are designed to reflect Britons’ typical [...]
Jonathan Reynolds in Washington for first in-person trade talks March 18, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds is in Washington DC for the first in-person trade talks under President Donald Trump’s administration. The business and trade secretary is in the US capital today for talks which officials said were aimed at strengthening UK-US ties and to discuss a wider economic deal. Reynolds will meet US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and [...]
Keir Starmer vows to cut costs for business and ‘unleash’ private sector March 17, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to cut costs for businesses and “unleash the power of the private sector” in a bid to deliver economic growth. Writing for Morning Wire the Prime Minister described it as “an outrage” that the government “does not know how much it costs business to comply with the regulations imposed on [...]
What was the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies? March 17, 2025 The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies is the latest (and perhaps the most obscure) victim piled upon the government’s bonfire of quangos. First there was the Payment Systems Regulator, which was rolled into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Then, Sir Keir Starmer announced his most radical health reform yet by shuttering NHS [...]
OECD slashes UK economic forecasts amid global slowdown March 17, 2025 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cut the UK’s economic growth forecasts due to stubborn inflation and an escalating trade war. The OECD’s new interim report scaled back UK growth to 1.4 per cent in 2025 and 1.2 per cent in 2026 – down from previous projections of 1.7 and 1.3 per [...]
Employment dips as businesses brace for cost hikes March 17, 2025 Employment shrank by 0.4 per cent in February as small businesses prepare for rising costs, according to a new report from the hiring platform Employment Hero. In a monthly report looking at data from 105,000 employees, the company found that employment reforms and business tax hikes in the Budget have impacted hiring and employee retention. [...]
Auto Trader: FTSE 100 CEO on how to fix the London Stock Exchange March 17, 2025 The government needs to encourage more investment into companies listed on the London Stock Exchange to revive the fortunes of the City, according to the CEO of FTSE 100 giant, Auto Trader. Nathan Coe, speaking on an upcoming episode of Morning Wire’s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, said the UK doesn’t have the same level of “encouragement [...]
Reeves to meet regulators as Starmer pledges to cut red tape March 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves will meet with regulators on Monday, as the government sets out to cut the cost of regulation on businesses by a quarter. The Chancellor has summoned eight regulators to Number 11 Downing Street, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Health and Safety Executive. Sir Keir Starmer told Morning Wire in an [...]
Reeves ramps up pressure on regulators in plan to slash red tape March 17, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has summoned regulators to Downing Street today as part of the government’s plan to slash red tape. At the meeting, Reeves will announce further detail on how the government will be cutting regulations, while setting out plans to slim down or abolish regulators. “Today we are taking further action to free businesses [...]