Economy

On 10 July 2026 HM Treasury named Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and Oracle as cloud critical third parties to UK finance, with the Bank of England, PRA and FCA beginning joint oversight on 13 July. The regime, created under the Financial Services and …

UK digital finance could receive a major boost from tokenisation, with a Barclays and PwC report estimating up to £33bn added to annual UK GDP by 2035. Britain is advancing through the Bank of England and FCA Digital Securities Sandbox, the DIGIT tokenised gilt …

Andy Burnham, the reported incoming UK prime minister, has pledged the biggest council housing programme since the post-war period. Supporters welcome renewed investment in social homes, but analysts including the Centre for Policy Studies question the scale, cost and funding, noting the inherited £39bn …

The UK dementia registry, reported to have launched on 12 July 2026 as BARBARA (Brain Ageing Registry for Biomarkers, Access to trials, Research and Adoption), pools around 180 databases to speed patient recruitment into dementia clinical trials. Chaired by Lord James Bethell and backed …

The UK economy outlook at the midpoint of 2026 is better described as finely balanced than clearly improving. Output is expanding only modestly, inflation has settled well below its recent peaks but sits above the Bank of England's 2 per cent target, and the …

UK extreme heat has become a major economic and public-health risk after the Met Office confirmed 37.3C in Suffolk on 26 June 2026, England's hottest June day on record. The UK Health Security Agency estimated 1,504 heat-associated deaths in summer 2025, while the Office …

UK inflation stood at 2.8 per cent in the year to May 2026, per the Office for National Statistics, but this headline hides a widening inflation divide. Lower-income households spend proportionately more on energy, food, housing and transport, so face a higher effective rate. …