44 m. ago ‘Brighter future’ ahead for Scots under Budget plans, claims Shona Robison

The Scottish Finance Secretary has unveiled her draft tax and spending plans for 2026-27.

Politics

60 m. ago OBR has ‘earned people’s trust’ despite budget leak, says former chairman

Richard Hughes resigned from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in December over the mistaken early publication of its forecasts.

Politics

1 hour ago Family homes worth £1.5m could yet be hit by Rachel Reeves' 'mansion tax' as officials promise to ensure new levy will raise as much as possible

At her Budget in November, the Chancellor announced a 'high-value council tax surcharge' in England on homes above £2million from April 2028.

Society

2 h. ago Sacha Lord condemns Rachel Reeves as being 'worse for pubs than Covid' as landlords say rescue package is not enough to save them after Chancellor's hammer

The Treasury signalled a major U-turn on business rate hikes for pubs last week amid warnings hundreds could be forced to close.

Events

2 h. ago Starmer and Reeves will 'kill off' Britain's pubs with 'nail in coffin' booze tax hike

Despite sparking warnings the move will devastate Britain's remaining bars, chancellor Rachel Reeves is intent on hammering landlords with a 'last straw' tax jump in a matter of weeks.

Events

4 h. ago Starmer's rivals jostle for power with row over the blob: Wes Streeting defends Whitehall civil servants as Andy Burnham says 'unelected state' is hindering growth

Wes Streeting mounted a furious defence of civil servants against Labour critics - including the PM - before Andy Burnham said the 'unelected state' was hindering growth.

Events

4 h. ago Andy Burnham piles pressure on Rachel Reeves to 'rebalance' taxes on the high street after Chancellor refuses to extend rate bail out beyond pubs despite fear of mass closures

The Greater Manchester mayor, a former Cabinet minister and possible challenger to Keir Starmer, said changes were needed as part of wider reform that includes revaluing council tax.

Events

8 h. ago Rachel Reeves set to cut VAT on public electric car charging to offset fears EV demand will plummet when pay

The Government is could make EV charging on the public network cheaper by clashing VAT by 15%. The aim is to stop EV demand being killed from pay-per-mile tax in 2028.

Economics

9 h. ago New HMRC alert as thousands of workers 'could lose free childcare' in tax threshold change

Rachel Reeves' decision to freeze the income tax threshold until 2031 is set to see the number of Britons earning six-figure salaries rise to over two million for the first time

Economics

18 h. ago Rachel Reeves refuses to bail out hospitality venues as 2,000 face closure after major U

The Treasury signalled a major U-turn on pubs last week following warnings hundreds could be forced to close after a big hike in rates.

Politics

21 h. ago BBC star targeted by ‘sextortion’ plot after threats to post sexualised deepfake videos online

THE star of a BBC farming programme has been targeted in a £2,000 deepfake "sextortion" plot. Gareth Wyn Jones, 58, known as "the nation's favourite farmer", boasts two million social media followers and presented BBC documentary series The Family Farm. The TV personality, who campaigned against Rachel Reeves's inheritance tax, said his work as an...

Events

24 h. ago Social media is corrupting young minds – but a ban is not the answer | Zoe Williams

Kicking under-16s off the social platforms is tempting, but it ignores the root of the problem: the older generations who made them so toxic in the first placeKemi Badenoch is evolving into one of those politicians who, whatever she says, it’s not just likely to be wrong, it’s likely to be the opposite of what’s right. She says Greenland is not a big deal (a “second-order issue” is how she described it to the BBC) – it is a big deal. She says net zero is too expensive – the opposite is true: net-anything-but-zero is a cost we can’t afford.But her promise to ban under-16s from using social media, echoing Australia’s recent move, is hard to write off completely; people across the spectrum, including Andy Burnham, agree with it. Nobody who has ever met a teenager, or read the news, will be completely at ease with the role of social media in young lives. There are horrific effects, which have been well documented and inadequately addressed ever since the death of 14-year-old Molly Russe...

Politics

26 h. ago Six hospitality firms a day could close without rates help, warns trade group

UK Hospitality estimates that 2,076 firms could close in 2026 as a result of rising property taxes.

Events

26 h. ago Farming influencer who campaigned against Rachel Reeves' inheritance tax raid is targeted in 'sextortion plot'

Gareth Wyn Jones, 58, has built up a huge two million strong following online by documenting life on a rugged hill farm in the mountains of North Wales.

Economics

36 h. ago Publishers fear AI search summaries and chatbots mean ‘end of traffic era’

Media bosses expect web referrals to plunge and want journalists to emulate content creators, report findsMedia companies expect web traffic to their sites from online searches to plummet over the next three years, as AI summaries and chatbots change the way consumers use the internet.An overwhelming majority are also planning to encourage their journalists to behave more like YouTube and TikTok content creators this year, as short-form video and audio content continues to boom. Continue reading...

Politics

41 h. ago Collapse in confidence after Budget sets up bleak year for jobs and business

In a report that piles more pressure on Rachel Reeves, the accountancy group BDO said morale among firms fell to its lowest level in nearly five years last month.

Economics

42 h. ago ANDREW PIERCE: A safe seat for Burnham to put the Bootle in?

Has Andy Burnham finally found a safe way back to the Commons so he can challenge Keir Starmer?

Events

53 h. ago Hidden tax change that could see thousands of tax bills quadruple from April due to Labour rules

WHITE van men are facing a tax bombshell as annual bills have quadrupled under rules introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Thousands of tradespeople and small business owners who rely on double-cab pick-up trucks are being hammered by a little-known tax hike quietly introduced back in April 2025. Experts say a "little-known tweak" in the 2024...

Economics

56 h. ago British seaside holidays will be killed off by Rachel Reeves and Labour's business rates hike, coastal MPs warn

The Chancellor is due to announce relief packages for pubs in the coming days but has been under mounting pressure to extend them to hotels, shops and restaurants.

Events

3 d. ago Entire hospitality trade rounds on Labour to extend pubs support

Hotels, shops and other small businesses piled pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to find a solution for them following the U-turn on pubs.

Politics