Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.There goes another one. KKR’s £4.7bn purchase this week of Spectris, a high-tech equipment maker, is only the latest in a series of buyouts of UK mid-market companies. Lowly valuations are attracting bargain hunters. But investors wishing to take a punt on the next target will need to pick very carefully. KKR’s bid, at a hefty 96 per cent premium, pipped that of rival private equity rival Advent International to take out the fifth-largest group in the FTSE 250 and the index’s fourth…

This week marks a year of Keir Starmer’s government. But if Labour was expecting to celebrate the anniversary – it didn’t pan out that way. Despite claiming a narrow victory with the contentious welfare bill, the government appeared to have one of its roughest weeks on record. Host George Parker is joined by Stephen Bush, Miranda Green and Robert Shrimsley to discuss how Labour got here, and where it can go next. To mark the occasion, they are also joined by a cut-price supermarket cake. Follow George on Bluesky or X: @georgewparker.bsky.social, @GeorgeWParker; Robert @robertshrimsley, @robertshrimsley.bsky.social; Miranda @greenmirandahere.bsky.social; Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social‬,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.England start their defence of the Uefa Women’s Euros title in Switzerland this weekend, conscious that success in the tournament will be crucial for the fortunes of the domestic game.The Lionesses go up against France on Saturday, in an early clash of two top 10-ranked teams. Both sides are looking to gain an early advantage in a group that also contains the Netherlands and Wales.The team have fallen to fifth from as high as second in the rankings compiled by Fifa, football’s…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Oil & Gas industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The oil company Prax Group that collapsed into insolvency last weekend owes the UK government as much as £250mn in unpaid taxes, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.The people did not identify which Prax company owes the money or whether it relates to one or several entities, however the outstanding debt to HM Revenue & Customs had been part of recent discussions between Prax and the UK government, they said.A third person confirmed that unpaid tax obligations…

The UK-wide ban on disposable e-cigarettes is falling short as near-identical new reusable vapes sell for nearly the same price and refill pods are in short supply, undermining a government drive to cut waste and protect children’s health.Single-use vapes have been illegal since June 1, with penalties for businesses that sell or supply products that cannot be refilled with vape liquid or lack rechargeable batteries ranging from an initial fine of £200 to two years in jail. Setting out the ban last year, ministers said the move would end a “throwaway culture” in the world’s second-largest vaping market, whose use…

This article is an on-site version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. If you’re not a subscriber, you can still receive the newsletter free for 30 daysGood morning. Will there be new organised parties challenging Labour from the government’s left? Yes. And with some MPs wanting to swerve left on policy to meet that challenge, they will add to the pressure on the public finances. But those parties face challenges of their own, too. Some thoughts on a couple of them in today’s note. Inside Politics is edited by…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has said she plans to launch a new party with Jeremy Corbyn, saying that Sir Keir Starmer’s government had “failed” voters during its first year in office.Sultana said in a social media post late on Thursday: “Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.”However, an ally of Corbyn, who led the Labour party between 2015 and 2020, said he was frustrated Sultana had…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Edinburgh’s festivals are struggling to secure enough corporate sponsorship more than one year after an activist campaign led asset manager Baillie Gifford to withdraw funding from literary festivals, despite fresh state funding bolstering this year’s events. The Edinburgh International Festival, one of the most important events on the UK cultural calendar, will this year have a fifth fewer performances than in 2024, despite earlier this year receiving a £11.75mn three-year deal from the government culture agency Creative Scotland. Adjusted for inflation, the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The Somerset town of Bruton has a number of wealthy homeowners, including the former chancellor George Osborne, who in 2015 took the first steps towards abolishing Britain’s non-domiciled tax regime for foreign residents. Until recently, it was also home to Iwan and Manuela Wirth, Swiss co-founders of Hauser & Wirth, the global contemporary art gallery.The Wirths have relocated to Switzerland, having been officially resident in the UK since 2016. They had family and professional reasons and were not non-doms, a status that…

Last year, chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the largest tax-raising Budget in three decades, promising a “once in a generation” event and stating that she would not be back to hit the country’s wealthiest with further taxes.But wealthy people and their advisers have little faith in Reeves’ words. Many are already preparing for what they fear will be another Budget this autumn that will increase their tax burden.Part of the problem stems from Labour’s manifesto pledges to rule out increases to the top three revenue raisers: income tax, national insurance and VAT. Since these three levies raise more than 55 per…