Helen Rush

It seems the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is rumoured to be eyeing up the nation’s holidaymakers as a handy new revenue stream. According to whispers in the corridors of power, reported with some gusto by The Times, the Treasury is mulling over the introduction of a nationwide tourist tax on hotel and Airbnb stays across England. This would grant city mayors the delightful new power to slap a charge on both domestic and international visitors, all in the name of patching up that rather enormous black hole in the public finances which the upcoming budget on 27th November is supposed to address. One can almost hear the collective sigh from Whitehall; it seems even a new government finds the nation’s coffers are not so much a treasure chest as a leaky bucket.

The national energy regulator, Ofgem, has just signed off on a staggering £28 billion investment package for the nation’s gas and electricity networks. This move, they claim, is a vital step to shore up security, bolster resilience, and pave the way for a fully electrified economy. On the surface, it’s a grand vision: £17.8 billion is earmarked to prop up …

The British workplace is about to change more than it has in a generation. The Employment Rights Bill, passed by Parliament in December, will bring the biggest rewrite of workers’ rights and employer duties since the financial crisis. It is a full scale overhaul, not a minor adjustment and every part of the UK economy – from City offices to …

The United Kingdom has now put into force a wide reaching ban on adverts for food and drink that is bad for health, a step widely called a turning point in public health policy and aimed squarely at cutting childhood obesity. From the first day of this month, television stations may not show adverts for products that are high in …

For a nation that prides itself on keeping a stiff upper lip, nothing sharpens the mind quite like the prospect of a sudden spike in the weekly shop or a queasy feeling at the petrol pump. It is this distinctly unheroic economic dread that has dragged His Majesty’s Government, rather against its will, into the unfolding drama of Middle Eastern geopolitics. After four weeks of escalating tension in the region, Whitehall has finally snapped to attention, realising that the tanker stuck in the Strait of Hormuz isn’t just a distant news headline but a direct threat to the British household budget. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has done what British prime ministers do when faced with such amorphous, multi-fronted crises: he has convened an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee. Scheduled for this Monday, the meeting is less a war cabinet in the classic sense and more an exercise in trying to figure out how to keep the lights on without bankrupting the electorate.

The ongoing military conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, which ignited on 28 February, is set to drive global clothing prices up by as much as 15 per cent by the autumn. Industry analysts and manufacturers are now advising consumers to brace for the impact, as South Asia’s $50 billion garment export sector finds itself in the crosshairs …

It’s become painfully clear that the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz is evolving into a defining test for Western alliances, and the upcoming Paris meeting looks more like a damage limitation exercise than a display of decisive leadership. On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a videoconference with around 40 nations, trying to project an image of resolve to Washington. Their message, thinly veiled, is that some of America’s closest partners are ready to step in to restore freedom of navigation, but only when the conditions suit them, not necessarily when the White House demands it. The fact that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni are making the trip to Paris in person suggests a desperate attempt by Europe to look serious, though whether this translates into tangible action remains highly suspect.

A recent analysis from the Health Foundation has revealed a sharp drop in healthy life expectancy across Britain – that is, the number of years people live without significant illness or disability. The country is now going backwards compared to most other wealthy nations, and the data makes for grim reading. According to the findings, people in the UK enjoy …

Fulham Pier is pushing beyond its reputation as a football‑adjacent food hall with a summer programme that leans hard into culture and wellness. Two major openings land in the coming weeks, alongside confirmation that the venue will once again play host to one of London’s most established sporting traditions. A Social Media Artist Takes Over the Riverside On 1 June, …

The FCA is currently examining the total prohibition of financial prediction markets – this rule is in place since 2019 but the policy differs from the current methods by which residents of the United Kingdom exchange assets. The regulator is in conversation with digital brokerage services about allowing more entry to those markets. Such a change in policy is a complete turn from the previous stance that the products create a high level of danger for non professional traders.