Railway prices freeze first time in 30 years
The government is freezing all regulated rail fares in England for one year starting from…
Railway prices freeze first time in 30 years
The government is freezing all regulated rail fares in England for one year starting from March 2026. This means prices of season tickets, peak return fares for commuters and off‑peak returns between major cities will all stay the same until March 2027. The measure will save commuters on expensive routes more than £300 per year…
Reeves targets votes in Labour’s vulnerable heartlands
Rachel Reeves allocated billions in financial support to voters in Labour’s political heartlands, as the government faces increasing threats ahead of local elections in May. The measures included £1.3 billion in additional funding for the Scottish and Welsh governments, a scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and a surprise £2.3 billion miners’ pension scheme. In…
Government goes ahead with ‘Milkshake-Tax’ to tackle obesity
UK shoppers will soon have to pay more for their cold lattes and other sugary milk drinks, as Chancellor seeks to close the ‘loophole’ in the sugar tax, confirmed in November’s Budget today. Pre-packed milkshakes and other dairy-based products will soon be hit by the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) tax, which was introduced by…
Fuel duty frozen until 2026
The government will freeze the 5 pence per litre fuel duty until September 2026, when it will be replaced by a 3 pence per mile for electric cars from 2028. The change will cost £2.4bn next year and £900mn annually thereafter, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The move, alongside the Fuel Finder scheme…
Limited new drilling allowed in the North Sea – but Ukraine war windfall tax remains
A government paper released alongside the budget announced that limited new North Sea oil and gas production will be allowed but ruled out further exploration or a tax reduction. A new class of permits, known as ‘Transitional Energy Certificates’, will allow oil and gas companies to expand extraction near existing oil fields as long as…
Reeves extends freeze on income tax thresholds to 2031
Income tax thresholds will remain frozen for an additional three years, pushing more workers into higher tax bands as wages rise with inflation. The threshold freeze has been extended to April 2031 and is forecast to generate £8.3bn by 2030. At present, earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 fall into the 20 percent bracket while those…
Reeves axes energy efficiency scheme in attempt to reduce bills
The Chancellor has pledged to lower household energy bills by scrapping an earlier scheme designed to improve energy efficiency. Reeves told MPs her proposals would cut the average household bill by £150 from April. She said the current Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, introduced by the Conservatives, “costs households £1.7bn a year on their…
Britain’s productivity crisis to “cost £16 billion” by end of decade
The Office for Budget Responsibility lowered Britain’s productivity forecasts from 1.3% to 1% in the latest Budget, a downgrade which could cut £16bn from the economy by 2030. Productivity growth for 2025 has been downgraded by 0.3 percentage points from the OBR’s March report to 1.0 per cent, implying slower supply-side expansion and weaker revenue…
Health and Welfare Prioritised in Budget
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, allocated an additional £300m investment to health technology to support staff and improve patient services and committed to building 250 new neighbourhood health centres as part of a drive to improve health and welfare services. Up to 130 of these centres are scheduled to be in place by 2030. The chancellor…
UK’s stock market bounces after budget chaos
FTSE 100 temporarily dipped slightly after the premature release of budget details, but bounced up and ended higher than the previous day. The index rose 0.85 percent, closing at 9,691, a sign that markets were not overly rattled by the budget announcement. Michael Brown, analyst at Pepperstone, believes the leaked document gave investors information and…
