Business

“Stealthy” freezes to tax and welfare thresholds will outweigh any benefits people will get from the government’s plan to cut taxes, according to economists. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a raft of measures in his mini-budget last month, including cutting the basic rate of income tax by 1p and reversing the increase to National Insurance, brought

Executives from Britain’s biggest high street banks have been summoned for talks with Kwasi Kwarteng amid concerns about the impact of recent financial turmoil on the mortgage market. Sky News has learnt that the Treasury has convened a meeting on Thursday at which the chancellor is expected to quiz lenders on their plans. City sources

Motorists are being denied a further 10p cut in petrol prices because retailers have hiked their profit margins, according to the RAC. The motoring organisation said a further oil price fall in September pushed down the average price at forecourts nearly 7p to 162.9p. It was the sixth biggest monthly drop since 2000, but the

There is a mounting risk that fuel prices could soon begin to rise again as major oil-producing countries ponder a big cut in output. The Opec+ cartel, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia among its main members, is expected by markets to reveal this week a collective target to reduce delivery by more than one

Only 1 in 25 of CEOs in Britain’s largest publicly companies are women, according to a new report. Analysis of senior leadership in the FTSE 350 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange showed 96% of CEOs are men. This is despite the entry level recruitment often being close to 50:50, according to analysis

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that the government is axing plans to give the wealthiest 1% a tax cut following a bitter backlash from Tory MPs. Mr Kwarteng said in a tweet that the measure had become a “distraction” from his objective to grow the economy. He said: “We get it, we have listened.” Politics

Leaves on the line disrupting train services promise to be a thing of the past for many more travellers with new technology being introduced by a major train operator. Northern, which runs nearly 2,000 daily services, is fitting a system to 16 passenger trains which will combat slippery rails by spraying water onto them. The

The owners of Britain’s second-biggest steel producer are seeking an urgent package of financial support from taxpayers amid renewed fears for thousands of industrial jobs in the north of England. Sky News has learnt that Jingye Group, which bought British Steel out of insolvency in 2020, has told ministers that the company’s two blast furnaces

Rail passengers have been urged to only travel if “absolutely necessary” today as members of four trade unions stage a 24-hour walkout. The latest strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), Aslef, Unite and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) is expected to cause the worst rail disruption of the year

Liz Truss has for the first time acknowledged that “there has been disruption” to the UK economy following last week’s mini budget. Since the chancellor’s announcement of £45bn in tax cuts the value of the pound has plummeted, nearly half of mortgages have been pulled and the Bank of England launched a £65bn bail-out to

Gas and electricity bills are going up as the new energy price cap takes effect. You may have read that from 1 October the price cap will mean average energy bills will increase by 27% from £1,971 a year to £2,500. But it isn’t as simple as that. House prices warning as growth slows to

Britain’s economy grew by 0.2% in the three months to June, reversing the initial estimate of a 0.1% contraction, official figures show. The upward revision of the second quarter GDP by the Office for National Statistics implies the UK is not in recession, as predicted by the Bank of England earlier this month. Quarter of

Liz Truss will meet the head of the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog today after a powerful group of cross-party MPs demanded the chancellor release a full economic forecast by the end of October – a month earlier than planned. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will join the prime minister as they meet the Office for Budget Responsibility’s

Shares in companies that depend on consumer spending have plunged after Next, the fashion to homewares retailer, cut its sales forecast for the second half of its financial year and annual profit guidance. The company used the publication of its half-year results to the end of July to say that there were too many variables

The Bank of England’s dramatic intervention today was in response to a “run dynamic” emerging in the British pensions system which could have resulted in the collapse of a swathe of institutions within hours, Sky News understands. Bank staff worked through the night on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning to prepare the unprecedented package, which

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to meet bankers today in an effort to calm nerves after his mini-budget spooked the markets and sent the pound crashing. The Treasury has categorically denied he will ask financiers not to bet against the pound, which has fallen to record lows against the dollar in recent days. He is

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticised the UK government’s mini-budget, saying the plans for tax cuts and spending will increase inequality and counteract the Bank of England’s monetary policy. The conflicting government and currency policies, of seeking to ramp up growth via tax cuts and rein in inflation through interest rate rises, attracted sharp

The market turmoil caused by Friday’s seismic mini-budget has hit mortgage offerings as providers withdrew partial and entire lending ranges. Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society have temporarily withdrawn their entire mortgage product range, while Halifax, the country’s largest mortgage lender, said it is to remove fee-paying mortgages. Fee-paying mortgages allow borrowers to pay a

A former executive at the owner of Boots is in discussions about joining the board of the Russia-linked vehicle which owns Holland & Barrett. Sky News has learnt that Alex Gourlay, who stepped down as co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance earlier this year, is in advanced talks to become a non-executive director of

The overnight fall in the value of the pound, descending to its lowest level against the dollar since decimalisation in 1971, matters because of what it says about global market confidence in the UK economy. The plunge in sterling’s value, against a backdrop of a strong dollar globally, gathered speed on Friday following the publication