Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Medical supplies group PPE Medpro breached a multimillion-pound state contract when it supplied “unsafe” equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, the High Court heard on Wednesday.Lawyers for the government alleged the company — which was recommended for government contracts by Conservative peer Baroness Michelle Mone — had supplied £122mn of kit that was unfit for use. A large proportion of the 25mn medical gowns supplied by the company were not sterile and not adequately packaged, they said on the opening day of the…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK energy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Great British Energy, the government’s flagship state-owned energy company, has been handed the £2.5bn bill to support a new generation of small nuclear power plants, cutting the amount it has to spend on wind, solar and other technologies. Rolls-Royce’s efforts to develop Britain’s first small modular reactors will be funded by GB Energy’s £8.3bn budget over this parliament, according to measures announced in Wednesday’s spending review. Until now it had been unclear which part of the government’s budget would cover the funding for the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered a spending review she said would put Britain on a path to “national renewal”, with the NHS receiving a £29bn annual boost while other areas of day-to-day spending faced cuts.Reeves unveiled what she said were “Labour choices” for public spending for the next three or four years, with a focus on the NHS and schools and a £113bn borrowing-fuelled spree on capital projects.However, departments facing real terms cuts in their day-to-day budgets include the Home Office,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.WhatsApp has joined a legal challenge against the UK government’s demand to force Apple to create a “back door” in its security systems, as the Meta-owned group becomes the first Big Tech company to intervene in the case. Will Cathcart, who runs WhatsApp, on Wednesday blasted the UK’s “secret order” that he said undermined the security of British citizens. “This case could set a dangerous precedent and embolden nations to try to break the encryption that protects people’s private communication,” he said.The…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out day-to-day departmental spending until 2029 and capital budgets until 2030, in Labour’s first comprehensive spending review for 16 years. “The renewal of Britain must be felt everywhere,” she said on Wednesday. Here are the winners and losers from the spending review.WinnersHealth: The NHS in England has received a 3 per cent real-terms rise in annual day-to-day spending, above health leaders’ expectations but below the long-term growth rate of 3.6 per cent a year.However, the capital…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK is close to a deal with Spain and the EU over Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status, one of the last outstanding problems created by Britain’s departure from the bloc.Gibraltar has been in limbo since early 2020 when Brexit came into effect, with London, Brussels and Madrid unable to agree on several issues, including how the territory’s border should be policed.UK foreign secretary David Lammy flew to Gibraltar on Tuesday and met officials and businesses before flying to Brussels on Wednesday for talks…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Rioters clashed with police for the second night running in Ballymena in Northern Ireland as initially peaceful protests over an alleged sexual assault by two teenagers descended into violence. Masked rioters hurled petrol bombs, fireworks and masonry at police, while some houses and businesses were damaged and cars set alight on Tuesday night, prompting officers to respond with water cannon and baton rounds.In Ballymena, some residents put signs on their homes indicating their nationality, or union jack flags, in an apparent bid…

Investor concern has risen about the extent of UK government borrowing, feeding a sell-off in gilts since the autumn budget. Any sign that Reeves might be willing to bend her fiscal rules could further spook investors.The UK’s 10-year borrowing costs rose to a 16-year high in January, at just over 4.9 per cent, before falling back slightly. This has reduced the chancellor’s wriggle room against her self-imposed fiscal rules.ING’s UK economist James Smith says the government’s headroom has “fully evaporated” and “tax rises will be needed later this year to plug the gap”.He added that the statement “will emphasise that…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK retail spending growth slowed to its weakest pace this year in May, according to new data, casting doubt on the strength of consumer resilience.The value of retail sales increased at an annual rate of 1 per cent in May, the lowest rate in 2025 and well below the average of 2.5 per cent between January and May, according to figures published by the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday.The figure also lagged behind the April inflation rate of 3.4 per cent, suggesting a…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK tax myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.A UK special investigations team doubled its tax haul from wealthy people in 2023-24, compared with the previous year, in a crackdown on the rich. A department at HM Revenue & Customs set up to target wealthy taxpayers netted more than £1.5bn in 2023-24, according to the latest data obtained from a freedom of information (FOI) request.“HMRC have been set some very hard targets for extra tax collection by the chancellor. It is hard to see how they can achieve those targets…