Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The government is asking the public what it wants from the NHS, and the answers are a predictable mixture of angry and sensible. We all have an opinion about the healthcare system, just as we do about Tesco, or the BBC. Many of the ideas are familiar: turn the heating down on wards, pay for missed appointments, tell staff to lose weight. If anyone mentions management, it’s usually to denigrate. “Sack all those useless managers and pay the doctors more!” But what if…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A British man has pleaded guilty to two charges in a case that prosecutors have linked to Russia, and which falls under new national security legislation designed to crack down on hostile activity by foreign states.Dylan Earl, 20, from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire, admitted on Friday at a criminal court in London to a charge of aggravated arson undertaken in March on a commercial property in east London that has been linked to Ukraine.Earl also admitted to plotting to endanger lives and commit acts…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Chapel Down’s share price cratered on Friday following news that England’s largest winemaker had downgraded its sales guidance and announced it was staying independent after putting itself up for sale this summer. Shares fell as much as 20 per cent after the company said its board had concluded that “there were no transactions that would create superior long-term shareholder value” than remaining a standalone company. They are now down more than 40 per cent since the start of the year. Shares closed…

Rachel Reeves has rewritten her fiscal rules on the eve of her seismic first Budget next week. She says her new borrowing rule will help get Britain building, but how will it go down with voters – and the markets? Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is in Samoa, where a debate about reparations for slavery has threatened to overshadow the Commonwealth summit. Plus, the PM has had to grapple with Donald Trump’s allegations of illegal election interference by Labour. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by Political Fix regular Stephen Bush and FT political correspondent Anna Gross, along with the FT’s deputy…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce plans for five new freeports in the Budget on Wednesday as the Labour government takes up the contentious Conservative policy to boost investment.Boris Johnson, former Tory prime minister, introduced freeports as a flagship post-Brexit policy under which companies operating in selected areas would receive fiscal benefits and potential tariff exemptions.There have been eight freeports opened in England and two each in Scotland and Wales since 2021, with each port focusing on areas of specialisation, backed by…

Michael and his wife have been thinking for a while about moving from their home in Surrey, where they have lived for 25 years and raised their two sons. “We are rattling around a bit, but there was no obvious catalyst for moving — we hadn’t found anywhere to go and all our friends are here.” Yet last month, the 61-year-old retired businessman started speaking to estate agents to value his six-bedroom house, set in 2.5 acres of land. He was quoted a figure of around £2.75mn. “All the talk of Labour looking at inheritance tax in the Budget has made…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.This week PwC announced it will offer senior staff in the UK who will never become partner a new “managing director” title as a way to hold on to senior accountants at the firm. The position would also allow the company to offer higher salaries to external hires who wouldn’t pass those criteria, one person briefed on the plan said. And those who hold the title would be ineligible from progressing to partner rank.“Our new MD grade will give us more flexibility…

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. Rachel Reeves has tweaked the UK’s fiscal rules, giving herself considerable wriggle room to spend on capital investment (she hopes to spend an extra £20bn a year having changed the fiscal rules she inherited from Jeremy Hunt to increase her headroom to do so by £50bn). Some thoughts on the purpose of fiscal rules and these changes in today’s note. Inside…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.With unpopularity comes a certain freedom. Millwall football fans famously sing, “No one likes us; we don’t care”. Politicians rarely enjoy that much licence but at the right point in the political cycle it does offer a similar latitude.For all his Commons majority, Keir Starmer’s government started out unloved and is working its way down. This is naturally unnerving for Labour, especially when accompanied by unforced errors such as the free suits and hospitality or harsh measures like means-testing pensioner fuel allowances.…

A good mobile app has become an important way for asset managers and brokers to give investors a positive experience. Most online investing services offer one and their functionality is much more comprehensive than a few years ago.But there are big variations in these apps. While some investment platforms only offer the basics, others are starting to offer new types of engagement that feels, dare I say it, exciting.Vanguard held out on launching an app to UK investors for far too long, finally unveiling its offering two months ago. Its investors were crying out for it: close to a third…