Sir Tony Blair has urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to ditch his 2030 clean power target and cut green levies as his think tank warns that current climate policies are driving up costs for homes and businesses. A new report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), personally approved by the former prime minister, claims the government’s commitment to fully decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 is “destroying industry” and “damaging households.” The intervention, which has...
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has secured a £170 million investment from 11 of the world’s largest banks, strengthening its post-trade operations and deepening ties with key industry partners. The investment, announced alongside the group’s Q3 2025 results, values LSEG’s Post Trade Solutions arm at £850 million and marks another milestone in the company’s strategy to expand its data and risk management technology footprint. Participating banks include Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi,...
In today’s political environment, it is hard to envision important issues where Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. Protecting the safety and security of citizens from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is hopefully still that issue. In recent years, we have seen growing agreement among lawmakers that the CCP is actively working against the security of the U.S. Whether through coercive trade practices, espionage, military aggression or technology theft, the CCP is intent on...
Financial advisers across the UK are warning of a growing trend in private medical insurance (PMI) cancellations as businesses and households tighten their belts in the face of rising taxes, inflation and economic uncertainty. During the Covid pandemic, PMI uptake more than doubled. According to comparison site ActiveQuote.com, sales between November 2020 and January 2021 surged by 100% compared with March to May 2020, as fears over NHS waiting times drove record numbers towards private...
Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has warned that the UK’s financial system is “not prepared” to withstand the growing wave of geopolitical and cyber threats facing the global economy. Speaking at the City Dinner at Mansion House in London, Rathi said the impact of modern conflict now reaches “balance sheets, funding, markets and consumers as much as any battlefield.” “Whether it’s a cyber-attack or a production shock – they move...
The government has approved the long-awaited reopening of the Oxford Cowley rail branch line, marking a major milestone in plans to transform the Oxford-Cambridge corridor into what ministers call “Europe’s Silicon Valley.” The £155 million scheme — part of a wider £500 million investment package announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves — will be jointly funded by the Treasury (£120 million) and private stakeholders led by the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, which will contribute a...
Astut, an Oxford University spinout developing AI for unprecedented decision-making, has raised £1.6 million in seed funding to help businesses and institutions navigate crises and high-stakes challenges where no historical data exists. The round was co-led by East X Ventures and Sure Valley Ventures (SVV), with participation from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital. Founded in April this year by Professor Pete Grindrod CBE, a mathematician at the...
Barclays has revealed a £110 million loss tied to the collapse of Tricolor, a US subprime auto lender accused of fraud — an event now seen as a major warning sign for the $3 trillion private credit market. The bank confirmed the impairment in its third-quarter results, which otherwise met expectations, showing pre-tax profits of £2.1 billion — down 7% year-on-year but broadly in line with analyst forecasts. Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat,...
Paygentic, a London-based startup building payments infrastructure for AI-native and agent-driven businesses, has raised $2 million (£1.6m) in pre-seed funding to expand its team and accelerate product development. The funding round was led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from Anamcara Capital, Aperture, Angel Invest, and Alan Morgan, chairman at Adfisco. Founded by Susan O’Neill and Samuel Alarco Cantos (pictured), Paygentic is tackling a fast-emerging issue in the AI software sector — the mismatch between variable...
Front-runners for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, wasted little time attacking each other on alleged personal scandals they have been involved in during a Wednesday night debate between the pair and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani and Sliwa took the opportunity during Wednesday’s debate to drill down on past sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, the former governor of New York, ahead of an impeachment inquiry that preceded Cuomo’s 2021 resignation....
