6:56 am, October 13, 2025
Reeves could raise billions without breaking Labour pledges – IFS
Rachel Reeves could raise tens of billions from tax reforms without breaking Labour’s manifesto pledges but must avoid ‘half-baked fixes’ to Britain’s economic woes at the Budget, leading economists have said.
The government is under pressure to balance the books ahead of November’s autumn statement amid warnings of a black hole estimated to be as much as £50bn in the public finances. But in a wide-ranging report, the Institute for Fiscal Studies urged the chancellor to resist ‘simply hiking rates’ without making other changes to an ‘unfair’ and ‘inefficient’ tax system.
It also warned that restricting income tax relief on pension contributions ‘should be avoided’ and repeated its cautions against an annual wealth tax, which it says would penalise savers, or increasing stamp duty.
AI firm recruits ex-civil service boss Case after Sunak joins Microsoft
Another AI firm has recruited from Westminster as the former head of the civil service, Simon Case, joins Invisible Technologies.
Lord Case sought advice from the appointments watchdog on becoming an adviser to the American firm, according to Acoba (Advisory Committee for Business Appointments). Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has also recently sought advice on his appointment as a senior adviser to San Francisco-based Anthropic, which developed the Claude AI models, and Copilot AI developer Microsoft.
Lord Case, who was once the UK’s most senior civil servant, should not draw on ‘any privileged information available to him from his time in crown service’, the watchdog has said.
Cupra’s five-cylinder Formentor confirmed for UK launch
A high-performance version of Cupra’s Formentor crossover will be heading to the UK, having previously been slated for left-hand-drive-only production.
Dubbed the Formentor VZ5, the high-performance vehicle stands as an outlier in the hot hatch segment thanks to its 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine that delivers 385bhp and 480Nm of torque through the car’s all-wheel-drive system. The VZ5 also includes ‘integrated torque splitter technology’ which allows it to shuffle power across the car’s wheels to help improve handling.
On the outside, the VZ5 is easy to differentiate from the rest of the Formentor range thanks to its front splitter, which has been engraved with the car’s badging, as well as wider wheel arches and a redesigned bumper and diffuser. The exhausts get diagonal exits with copper-coloured elements, too. Limited to 4,000 units worldwide, production starts early next year.
The markets
The FTSE 100 fell sharply into the close on Friday as US President Donald Trump threatened China with a massive increase in tariffs amid a critical minerals dispute.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 81.93 points, 0.9%, at 9,427.47. It had earlier traded as high as 9,519.96. The FTSE 250 ended 250.99 points lower, 1.1%, at 21,801.84, and the AIM All-Share fell 7.37 points, 0.9%, to 786.33.
The pound was quoted higher at 1.3338 US dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Friday, compared to 1.3305 dollars on Thursday.
Starmer urges momentum be seized for second phase of peace amid Gaza summit
Sir Keir Starmer will call for the momentum of the ceasefire agreement brokered by Donald Trump to be seized to secure lasting peace in Gaza as he attends a summit on Monday.
The US president and fellow negotiators, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, will sign off the peace plan in Sharm El Sheikh, joined by leaders from more than 20 countries.
The summit, co-hosted by the US leader and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, comes as part of efforts to secure the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has been holding since Friday.
Trump warns Russia he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles
US president Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow does not settle its war there soon
Trump suggested he could be ready to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government using a key weapons system.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, he said: ‘I might say, ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks’. The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.’
Latest on Car Dealer
Family-run Parkway sees profits collapse in ‘challenging’ 2024 for car dealer
Family-run car dealer Parkway has seen its profits almost entirely wiped out during a ‘challenging’ year in 2024.
JLR production returns to Solihull as bosses hail ‘strong sense of unity and momentum’
JLR has stepped up its its return to production, with lines in Solihull getting back underway.
‘Continued cost challenges’ see profits tumble at franchised car dealer Ancaster Group
Franchised car dealer Ancaster Group has reported tumbling profits for 2024 as the firm battled the impact of ‘continued cost challenges’.
Weather
Patchy mist and fog will linger early before clearing for sunshine across much of Scotland, reports BBC Weather. England, Wales, and Northern Ireland stay under patchy low cloud.
Tonight remains dry, with cloud in the south, clearer skies in the north, and some mist or fog reforming, while the far north stays cloudy.
