Economy

The reported Freshfields partner cuts follow a firmwide equity-points review that concentrated profit among top performers, alongside a new non-equity partner tier. Freshfields, a magic circle City of London law firm, is widening pay differentials and pushing into the United States to compete with …

The Bank of England is reported to be internally divided over a shake-up in how it communicates monetary policy. Critics, including strategists at Citigroup and Bank of Montreal, warn that unclear signals could wrongfoot the bond market. With Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent …

Mastercard is reportedly reviewing the future of Vocalink, the operator of the technology behind Bacs, the Faster Payments System and the LINK ATM network. Options said to be under consideration include selling a majority stake, potentially to a consortium of British banks. Any deal …

London rental affordability improved by about 17 per cent in the year to June 2026, according to Propertymark, whose data shows the salary needed to rent an average London home fell from £86,250 to £71,550. Affordability rose despite rents climbing because London pay grew …

Reported NHS data errors linked to Palantir's Federated Data Platform have renewed scrutiny of Britain's digital health transformation. Several English trusts have reportedly confirmed inaccuracies in operational figures, including discharge delays, while NHS England hedged claims of 110,000 extra operations. MPs want the roughly …

Reports indicate Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to become UK prime minister, may hold an expanded autumn Budget that combines a fiscal statement with a full spending review, potentially in October 2026. Nothing is confirmed. The plan would test Labour's fiscal rules, the Office for …

The HMRC AI tax crackdown refers to HM Revenue & Customs using data analytics and artificial intelligence, including the Connect system and new machine-learning tools, to identify discrepancies and target investigations. HMRC reported these tools helped recover roughly £10 billion in extra tax last …