Financial service businesses to ramp up pace of job losses
A balance of 52 per cent of employers in the sector expect to see their workforce shrink between now and the end of September, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey found.
It is the latest evidence of the jobs gloom descending across the economy – much of it blamed on Labour's raid on employer National Insurance Contributions.
CBI deputy chief economist Alpesh Paleja urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to use her Mansion House speech next week to reassure financial services firms 'that the burden of potential tax rises doesn't fall squarely on their shoulders'.
A separate poll from accountants BDO found that the UK employment outlook was 'stagnant' and close to 13-year lows – denting growth hopes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
UK and France order more Storm Shadow missiles and step up military co-operation
Britain and France are to order more Storm Shadow missiles, as they step up work to replace the weapon as part of a refreshed defence pact. Storm Shadow, or as the French call it SCALP, is a long-range missile which has been supplied by both the British and French to Ukraine, allowing Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. The two countries have discussed co-operation on a replacement for years but, as French president Emmanuel Macron visits the UK, the nations will commit on Thursday towards the next phase of the project for Storm Shadow's successor. The joint development will help to sustain more than 1,300 jobs in the UK, according to the Government. On the third day of Mr Macron's UK state visit, he and Sir Keir Starmer will also agree to deepen nuclear ties. Britain and France, the only two nuclear powers in Europe, will state in a declaration that their nuclear deterrents – while independent – can be co-ordinated, with the aim of deterring threats like Russia from attacking Europe. The declaration comes at a time when Donald Trump's US administration is calling on European Nato powers to take on a larger role in the alliance. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks – the threats we face are multiplying. 'As close partners and Nato allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level. 'We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities – equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe.' Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'The UK and France are stepping up together to meet today's threats and tomorrow's challenges. We are committed to driving defence as an engine for growth, delivering better fighting capabilities faster, and ensuring our armed forces can operate side by side – from the High North to the Black Sea. 'This partnership strengthens our leadership in Europe, ensures continued support for Ukraine, and sends a clear signal to our adversaries that we stand stronger, together.' Building on the 2010 Lancaster House treaties between France and the UK, the two countries will also bolster a shared military venture, known as the Combined Joint Force. They also plan to forge closer military industrial ties, including in AI and direct energy weapons, as part of a programme dubbed the 'Entente Industrielle' by the UK Government.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Bailey provokes Chancellor over pension fund plan - but he does have a point, says ALEX BRUMMER
Andrew Bailey and Rachel Reeves may be former Bank of England colleagues. But it does not mean they always sing from the same songsheet. The Governor has been uneasy for some time about Labour assuming powers to mandate pension funds to invest in riskier assets. The Pension Schemes Bill, introduced in the House of Commons this week, would give ministers 'backstop' capability. The Government would assume powers requiring trustees to plough up to 10 per cent of funds into infrastructure, private firms, start-ups and equities. Governor Bailey acknowledges the case for greater retirement fund investment in Britain but does not support compulsion. One doesn't have to be a free marketeer to recognise Bailey has a point. Reeves has been impressed by the way that the Australian and Canadian pension fund managers invest beyond domestic shares and infrastructure. They also co- invest in UK assets such as Heathrow. British pension funds are nowhere to be seen at a time when Labour is seeking to speed up and bolster investment in cleaner energy and transport projects. Taking reserve powers over the pension funds might, however, cut across the fiduciary duty which state trustees must invest safely and cautiously for pensioners and future retirees. There must also be a fear of what might happen should a less scrupulous government than that led by Keir Starmer were to grab the reins of power. A leftie or populist administration might seek to take assets into part-public ownership or only back projects favoured by trades unions or financial backers of the governing party. The Reeves-Bailey pensions dispute is nothing like the bitter, public assault on chairman Jay Powell and the independent Federal Reserve by Donald Trump in the US. He wants rid of Powell and to see borrowing costs slashed. Reeves too craves lower UK borrowing costs before growth heads over the horizon. One trusts the Chancellor is conscious enough of the sensitivity of Bank independence not to rock the boat. Drug therapy Whatever happened to the Government's life sciences strategy? Britain's pharmaceutical giants are caught in a regulatory pincer movement. On this side of the Atlantic, differences between science minister Patrick Vallance and the Treasury over rebates to the Government on drug sales is proving a block to better access by the UK's life science pioneers to innovation in the NHS. In the US, President Trump is threatening a 200 per cent tariff on imported medicines unless the pharma industry gets its act together. The White House argues that dependence on foreign drug supplies is a national security threat. Both AstraZeneca and GSK have substantial research and manufacturing capacity in America. But there is genuine concern that, as overseas-based and listed enterprises, they could be targeted. Despite the status of Britain's big pharma companies as R&D powerhouses, with an opportunity to make an enormous contribution to growth, they are failing to get the attention they should from the Government. There is a brief reference to a special status for UK pharma in Britain's outline trade deal with the US. But almost all the efforts of negotiators has been on the UK's steel industry and car makers. It is not surprising that Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, is reported to have considered shifting Britain's most highly valued enterprise to the US. Drug firms were initially encouraged by NHS reforms to make greater use of digital tech to test new treatments and roll them out quickly in Britain. There is acute pain over the failure of the Government to recognise the critical role of the sector in fuelling productivity and growth. Comeback kid? New chairman Philip Jansen's work is cut out if he is to reverse the fortunes of UK marketing powerhouse WPP. Shares in the group plunged 18.8 per cent after the advertising group scythed its revenue and earnings projections. Maybe WPP creator Martin Sorrell could come to the rescue with a reverse takeover masterminded by his S4 Capital digital and AI-enabled agency.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Government sees off backbench rebellion as welfare reforms clear Commons
A proposed benefit cut for future out-of-work claimants has cleared the Commons after Labour ministers saw off a backbench rebellion. The Universal Credit Bill cleared the Commons at third reading, after it received MPs' backing by 336 votes to 242, majority 94. 'If you can work, you should,' social security minister Sir Stephen Timms told MPs before they voted on the welfare reforms. 'If you need help into work, the Government should provide it, and those who can't work must be able to live with dignity. 'Those are the principles underpinning what we're doing.' Work and pensions ministers faced calls to walk away from their universal credit (UC) proposals at the 11th hour, after they shelved plans to reform the separate personal independence payment (Pip) benefit and vowed to only bring in changes following a review. 'When this Bill started its life, the Government was advocating for cuts to Pip claimants and UC health claimants now and in the future. They conceded that now wasn't right, and it was only the future,' Labour MP for Hartlepool Jonathan Brash said. 'Then they conceded it shouldn't be Pip claimants in the future, leaving only UC health claimants in the future. Does (Sir Stephen) understand the anxiety and confusion this has caused people in the disabled community, and would it not be better to pause and wait for the review and do it properly?' Sir Stephen replied: 'No, because reform is urgently needed. We were elected to deliver change and that is what we must do. 'And it's particularly scandalous that the system gives up on young people in such enormous numbers – nearly a million not in employment, education or training.' The minister said the Government wanted to 'get on and tackle the disability employment gap' and added the Bill 'addresses the severe work disincentives in universal credit, it protects those we don't ever expect to work from universal credit reassessment'. As part of the Bill, the basic universal credit standard allowance will rise at least in line with inflation until 2029/30. But the Government has proposed freezing the 'limited capability for work' (LCW) part of the benefit until 2030, which a group of 37 Labour rebels including Mr Brash opposed in a vote. The move was ultimately approved by 335 votes to 135, majority 200. New claimants who sign up for the 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' payment would receive a lower rate than existing claimants after April 2026, unless they meet a set of severe conditions criteria or are terminally ill, which the same rebels also opposed. Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central who was among them, had earlier said: 'No matter what spin, to pass the Bill tonight, this will leave such a stain on our great party, founded on values of equality and justice.' She warned that making changes to universal credit before a wider look at reform was putting 'the cart before the horse, the vote before the review', and branded the Government's decision-making an 'omnishambles'. Ms Maskell pressed her own amendment to a division, which she lost by 334 votes to 149, majority 185. It would have demanded that out-of-work benefit claimants with a 'fluctuating medical condition' who slip out of and then back into their eligibility criteria either side of the changes would receive their existing – not the lower – rate. Marie Tidball said that during the review of Pip, which Sir Stephen was tasked with leading, 'the voices of disabled people must be front and centre'. She proposed putting a series of legal conditions on the so-called Timms review, including that disabled people should be actively involved in the process. The Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge did not move her amendment to a vote, on the basis Sir Stephen could offer 'further assurances that there will be sufficient link between the Timms review recommendations and subsequent legislation on Pip to ensure accountability and that the voices of disabled people are heard'. The minister said he could give her that assurance, and added that 'the outcome of the review will be central to the legislation that follows'. A total 47 Labour MPs voted against the Bill at third reading including Mr Brash, Ms Maskell, Mother of the House and Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott, and former minister Dawn Butler. The Bill will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date.
