The UK’s prime minister, its king and their new annus horribilis
Keir Starmer’s 2025 was turbulent as Reform UK kept up the pressure, while King Charles dealt with the fallout of his brother Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein
Rachel Reeves
We need Britain to get real about Brexit
Budgets in both Britain and Ireland have postponed difficult decisions in a manner that will reduce their room for manoeuvre when the next election looms
Keir Starmer on the back foot: PM pleads for trust as budget backlash engulfs Labour
Claims of budget misrepresentation spark a bruising clash with Westminster press
Can I appeal if UK tax officials want me to pay more than I think I should to buy back British pension rights
Many Irish people who worked in the UK and thereafter are being told, incorrectly, that they must pay more than expected to buy back national insurance
The bridging loan is back and how AI has upended internet searches
The best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk
The Irish Times view on the UK budget: the long shadow of Brexit
Nearly a decade after the referendum and five years after the UK’s exit from the EU, the economic and political price is all too clear
Rachel Reeves avoids budget landmines but remains exposed unless economic growth kicks in
UK’s chancellor delivered her second successive tax-and-spend budget on Wednesday
Labour to raise £26bn in UK tax increases to fund spending plans
Increases affect property owners, savers, workers and gamblers
All eyes on Reeves as she seeks £30bn to plug spending gap ahead of UK budget
All the leaking, pitch-rolling and backtracking in the pre-budget run-up has investors, employers and union bosses bewildered
SNP leader John Swinney: ‘Scotland and England are going in completely different directons’
Scotland’s nationalist first minister visits Dublin on Tuesday and Wednesday to talk economics, culture and space rockets
European shares inch higher, led by banks, following upbeat forecasts
Iseq index advances 1.8%, led by AIB and Bank of Ireland
European shares fall as US rate cut hopes wane and UK fiscal worries rise
In Dublin, the Iseq All-Share index ended the session down 1.4 per cent at 12,365.36
Revolut co-founder Nik Storonsky shifts his residency from UK to UAE
Change in billionaire’s country of residence disclosed in Companies House filing
Tories’ future as political party capable of governing is at stake: ‘It is that serious’
Whether to focus more on people’s pockets or UK borders is big question at Conservative Party conference
Labour conference shows how future of Keir Starmer’s government depends on one woman
As protests gather outside Labour’s annual conference, Keir Starmer is betting on immigration hardliner Shabana Mahmood to save his government
Keir Starmer faces real peril in defining period as MPs return
UK prime minister must overturn Reform’s migration-fuelled summer dominance, while crucial budget also looms into view
Lack of tax powers renders Stormont a spectator in UK public spending debate
Patience of English taxpayers with Northern Ireland will be tested as Britain runs out of money
JD Vance hasn’t mastered the art of the political holiday
August has given me time to think about how politicians holiday. Most of them do it badly
Northern Ireland ‘crucial’ as British chancellor looks to ‘all parts’ of UK for growth
Rachel Reeves rejects idea North is ‘economic basket case’, highlighting film, TV and games pedigree
Reeves pledges to extend purge of City red tape to rest of UK economy
Chancellor uses Mansion House speech to unveil what she claims is a big reduction in financial services regulation
Rachel Reeves to put on a brave face in Mansion House address
British chancellor of the exchequer keen to move on from controversies with pledge to slash financial industry regulation
Breaking down in tears at the scene was mortifying. It was also the only sane response
Rachel Reeves has been castigated for crying, but sometimes tears are the only way to react rationally
UK desperate to stay inside fiscal rules, Ireland couldn’t care less
After big U-turns, Starmer and Reeves have boxed themselves into a corner
Do we like it when our political and business leaders appear human or cry in public?
Admissions of overwhelm show humanity, if people in charge are strategic with their weaknesses
‘Worst of any prime minister’: Ten moments that defined Labour’s first year in power in the UK
From a ‘loveless landslide’ to excessive gloom and a climbdown forced by his own MPs, the UK prime minister has endured a torrid first 12 months in office
Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan sympathises with Rachel Reeves
Prime minister says tears were as a result of a ‘purely personal’ matter
Nigel Farage sets Britain’s political weather but Reform UK has clouds in its own sky
Despite success with voters, recent upheaval was a reminder that Farage’s party can still self-harm
Reeves vows to ‘renew Britain’ with big rises for NHS, housing and defence in spending review
Chancellor says years of Tory austerity budgets created a ‘lost decade for growth, wages and living standards’
Will markets see a July surprise? Four key warning signs investors and pension-holders need to watch
Tariffs and debt burdens are making large-scale investors increasingly nervous about future market direction
US tariffs: Donald Trump announces ‘breakthrough’ trade deal with UK
Irish farmers raise concern over prospect of US beef being allowed into UK market
‘The worst mobile phone service in the rich world’
London's awful signal is one of the most irritating daily realities of living in what is meant to be one of the world’s most developed cities
Labour bets on growth to fund UK’s future but US tariffs could ruin it all
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is ‘walking a fiscal tightrope’ after her slasher spring statement
How UK social welfare reforms hit Northern Ireland
About a quarter of adults of working age in Northern Ireland get disability payments
Anger in Northern Ireland at welfare cuts to balance budget books
Concern in Stormont over Rachel Reeves’ spring statement as higher numbers of people rely on welfare support in NI than UK average
Britain’s fiscal watchdog warns of danger of trade war as UK government slashes spending
UK’s chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves plans £6bn reduction in spending to remain within her fiscal target
Bank of England keeps rates on hold at 4.5%
Rate-setters are grappling with combination of sluggish economy and ongoing price pressures
UK economic output contracted unexpectedly in January
Figure marks setback for chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of high-stakes Spring Statement
UK inflation rises to 10-month high of 3% in January
Figure surpasses expectations and highlights challenge for Bank of England
Rachel Reeves banks on long-term gain but is getting short-term pain
The UK chancellor has looked to the future with a plan for a third runway at London’s Heathrow
Rachel Reeves: Labour will go ‘further and faster’ in search for growth
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary criticises UK chancellor’s plan for Heathrow expansion and says she ‘doesn’t have a clue’
Was Reeves snubbed at Davos or is UK just paranoid?
UK chancellor wasn’t invited to speak at the myriad of debates and panel discussions that front the four-day event in the Swiss Alps
Bank of Ireland shares rise as UK government weighs in on car finance crisis
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has written a submission through the UK treasury department to the supreme court, applying to intervene in the hearing
Starmer’s political image increasingly at odds with a public mood turning against liberal causes
He seems himself as less ideological than Blair, but he might benefit from adopting the New Labour master’s Machiavellian streak
Rachel Reeves fends off comparisons with Liz Truss as Tories call for the chancellor to be sacked
The Daily Star is considering going vegetable shopping once again
Rachel Reeves returns to fiscal storm in UK
UK chancellor jets in from China amid financial controversy
UK 10-year borrowing costs hit highest level since 2008
Sterling falls sharply as government bond sell-off threatens Labour’s ability to meet budget rules
UK government must make sure it isn’t a confidence killer
There is a danger that animal spirits and the propensity to invest expire in a vicious downward spiral
PTSB goes for job cuts as bloated costs stand out among European peers
Bank won’t how many jobs it aims to cut but the number will need to run into the hundreds to have any meaningful impact
UK economy unexpectedly shrinks by 0.1%
October contraction is second in a row and deals blow to Labour government’s economic agenda
UK chancellor’s attendance at EU meeting ‘important symbol’ of warmer relations
Labour government looking to draw line under previous ‘antagonistic’ UK-EU relationship, Reeves says
‘Starmer the Farmer Harmer’ the target of ire as British farmers mobilise in London
Planet Business: Infowars auction saga, Howard Lutnick’s thoughts on Ireland and a brief history of the Observer
Ire of farmers and pensioners mounts as British Labour faces possibility of new ‘winter of discontent’
Protest this week by farmers over inheritance tax raid sounds alarm bells for Labour’s rural prospects
UK economic growth slows as budget jitters and high interest rates take toll
Blow to chancellor Rachel Reeves as she attempts push the UK to the top of the G7 growth league
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices