Economy

Several of Britain's largest mortgage lenders raised the interest rates on their fixed-rate deals in July 2026, with increases of up to 0.35 percentage points. The moves landed just as Andy Burnham arrived in Downing Street as the country's new prime minister on Monday …

Andrew Tate, 39, and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, were arrested in Miami, Florida, on Saturday 18 July 2026 by the United States Marshals Service, acting on a sealed warrant. The arrests came after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England brought 59 new …

A man has been charged with the murder of Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative MP and television personality, following her death earlier this month. Joshua Kerry, 28, has also been charged with a terrorism-related offence, and is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court. …

It is a decade since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The referendum of 23 June 2016 set in motion a process that formally ended on 31 January 2020, with the trading relationship governed since 1 January 2021 by the Trade …

Stamp duty land tax, the levy buyers pay when they purchase property in England and Northern Ireland, is back at the centre of a policy argument. A Financial Times Lex column has argued that Britain could be cleverer about stamp duty, reviving a long-running …

SummaryAndy Burnham became UK prime minister on 20 July 2026 and built his first cabinet around a set of calculated gambles. He kept his long-time rival Wes Streeting inside government by making him defence secretary, chose John Healey rather than Ed Miliband as chancellor …

SummaryHMRC's modernisation has produced a visible early win: in 2025-26 the tax authority answered more calls, more quickly, with satisfaction around 80%. But faster phone lines are the easiest gain to deliver and to lose. The decisive test is the digital shift, moving from …