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Christian May

Christian May

City A.M.

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Sticky inflation takes shine off Reeves’ week

Sticky inflation takes shine off Reeves’ week

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves talks with Lloyds Banking Group CEO Charlie Nunn before a roundtable discussion with top finance executives...

18.07.2025 2

City A.M.

Christian May

City raises a glass to Reeves’ reforms

City raises a glass to Reeves’ reforms

Rachel Reeves has unveiled some smart, long overdue reforms to the City’s rulebook The City may have been a bit damp and grey yesterday but the...

17.07.2025 1

City A.M.

Christian May

Tax debate goes from comedy to tragedy

Tax debate goes from comedy to tragedy

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones leaves Downing Street, London, following a Cabinet meeting. Picture date: Tuesday July 1, 2025. PA Photo....

16.07.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s tax addiction will end in tears

Labour’s tax addiction will end in tears

The Chancellor will almost certainly set out fresh tax hikes at the October Budget It is now pretty much universally accepted that the government...

11.07.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Brutal bean-counters break the news: we’re utterly broke

Brutal bean-counters break the news: we’re utterly broke

These are difficult times for a news organisation that likes to think of itself as being on the glass-half-full side of life. Optimism is in short...

10.07.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

A wealth tax would be a disaster – and an admission of total failure

A wealth tax would be a disaster – and an admission of total failure

Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces dealing with spiralling triple lock state pension payments. Why wouldn’t Downing Street rule out a wealth tax? It...

09.07.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Sacking Reeves would make a bad situation even worse

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves – Photo credit: Jacob King/PA Wire This government has made plenty of...

03.07.2025 20

City A.M.

Christian May

Calm heads make a welcome return to ESG debate

More than £6bn was withdrawn from sustainable funds in the first quarter of 2025 In May 2022, HSBC’s head of responsible investing, Stuart Kirk,...

03.07.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Why can’t Keir Starmer lead?

Starmer has u-turned on key policies and reversed his position on immigration Later this week, Keir Starmer will celebrate the one year anniversary...

02.07.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Contradiction at the heart of National Security Strategy

The head of MI5 has warned of the “epic scale” of Chinese espionage against the UK The situation in the Middle East reminds us that these are...

26.06.2025 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Millionaires on the move? Britain can’t afford this wealth flight.

The UK is set to suffer an exodus of millionaires this year All around the world, money is on the move. Millionaire migration might seem like a niche...

25.06.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

Welfare, debt and the NHS: Our public finances are on the road to ruin

Portugal is a fine country with plenty going for it, as an increasing number of Brits seem to be discovering. Just under 50,000 people moved there...

18.06.2025 30

City A.M.

Christian May

Only roaring growth can save Reeves, and the country

Economists expect Chancellor Rachel Reeves to launch another tax raid The Chancellor had been speaking for about five minutes when it dawned on me...

13.06.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves will aim for optimism but reality paints a different picture

Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. Pic: Toby Melville/PA Wire Sky’s Sophy Ridge is a thoughtful and...

12.06.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

When is a trade deal not a trade deal?

Though the announcement of the deal was a key diplomatic moment for both sides, exact details of the agreement remain limited. Do you remember where...

06.06.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Thames Water mess could soon swamp ministers – and taxpayers

Thames Water suffered a major blow after KKR pulled out of investing Water takes the path of least resistance, and so – on this occasion as least...

05.06.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer’s defence pledges will trigger a tax bombshell

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, to launch the Strategic Defence Review. Picture date: Monday...

04.06.2025 7

City A.M.

Christian May

Heathrow’s story goes up in flames

The North Hyde electrical substation which caught fire. Picture date: Friday March 21, 2025. PA Photo. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire Every weekday morning...

29.05.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

Reform present Tories with chance to rebuild economic credibility

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks during a press conference in Westminster, London. Picture date: Tuesday May 27, 2025. PA Photo. Ben Whitley/PA...

29.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer plays a risky game on welfare reform

Rightly or wrongly, Labour decided that the first signal they should send as a new government was that they wouldn’t duck tough economic decisions....

28.05.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Paris vs London: which city comes out on top?

Our front page story yesterday on Paris surging ahead of London in the rankings of tech sector hotspots got people talking, reigniting an ancient...

23.05.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves takes comfort in the promise of future growth

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaks at a reception for UK and EU businesses in Downing Street, London. Picture date: Monday May 19, 2025....

22.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer sends his critics into a spin – but will Brexit deal deliver?

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference at the end of the UK-EU Summit at...

21.05.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

China could gatecrash Starmer’s diplomatic party

Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire File photo dated 18/11/24: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, at...

16.05.2025 20

City A.M.

Christian May

UK jobs markets suffers a fainting fit…will the patient get worse?

Commuters and people travelling to and from Waterloo Railway Station, via the main entrance. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images) We now...

15.05.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer’s just the latest to be shaped by UK’s immigration debate

Immigration has shaped UK politics for the past 20 years, often in ways that surprised at the time but which appear in hindsight to make perfect...

14.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Only radical thinking can break Britain out of its doom loop

Andy Haldane addressed the City AM Awards While the lucky few left Tuesday night’s City AM Awards with a gleaming trophy, the evening’s other...

09.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Tories take note: Reform will come at Labour from the left

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) As the dust settles on the local elections, party leaders will be busy trying to identify the right lessons. For...

07.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Tony Blair is right to call for ‘reset’ of ludicrous Net Zero debate

If energy secretary Ed Miliband still believes that critics of his dash to Net Zero are peddlers of “nonsense and lies” he has a new name to add...

01.05.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Ed Miliband’s reckless Net Zero ideology

Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband Rumours persist that Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, could be shunted out of his role when the Prime Minister...

30.04.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Employment Rights: ministers refuse to listen – and we’ll all pay the price

Entrepreneurs know better than anyone just what it takes to get an idea off the ground, and to keep it alive. The common phrases associated with...

30.04.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

The government is facing a wave of summer strikes – how will it respond?

Public sector strike action is always tricky territory for Labour politicians to navigate, particularly when the party is in opposition. When strikes...

18.04.2025 7

City A.M.

Christian May

China’s out to destroy our steel industry? We can do that on our own.

No laughing matter: Net Zero policy needs cooler heads The two remaining furnaces at the Scunthorpe steel plant, known as Anne and Bess, have blasted...

16.04.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

If you think this government is pro-business, let me sell you Tower Bridge

As the government continues to develop its response to Trump’s tariffs and the changing global economic order, the Prime Minister’s muddled...

10.04.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Trump’s trade war is a test for Starmer – I fear he’ll fail it

Keir Starmer declared yesterday that we’re now living “in a completely new world.” He’s not wrong; Donald Trump has cut to shreds the...

09.04.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Tesla pays the price for Elon Musk’s politics

People do strange things when passions are running high. Take the brave protester in Bristol, who last month felt he had to take a stand against the...

04.04.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Are we all just winging it, all the time?

There aren’t many decade-old Guardian articles that still resonate with me, but I can recall (and often revisit) a 2014 column by Oliver Burkeman....

03.04.2025 7

City A.M.

Christian May

The Spring Statement takes us back to square one

It might not have been a Budget, but the Chancellor may well wish that it had been. Constrained by her fiscal rules and her own insistence that...

28.03.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

If the world really has changed, Chancellor, then drop your tax hikes

Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement on Wednesday afternoon. Rachel Reeves has one of the most demanding, high profile and exhausting jobs...

27.03.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves crosses her fingers and hopes for growth

Ahead of last October’s Budget, ministers allowed months of speculation as to what would be unveiled, and the never-ending drumbeat of doom and...

26.03.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

Do we need to rethink Brexit’s impact on UK-EU trade?

With the weekend approaching, allow me to furnish you with a classic conversation starter for the pub or a dinner party; have you heard that the OBR...

21.03.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

PM’s growth rhetoric does not match reality

Jonathan Brady/PA Wire Stirring words from the Prime Minister in today’s City AM , with Keir Starmer vowing to unleash the “animal spirits”...

19.03.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Will Starmer’s chainsaw be Black & Decker or Fisher Price?

Starmer won’t get very far with that On Monday I used this column to ask who, if anyone, will have the courage to take a chainsaw to the British...

14.03.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s growth agenda? Necessary but not sufficient.

Labour offers some welcome reforms but the plan is nowhere near radical enough if we’re to enjoy good growth in the future Ministers will be deeply...

12.03.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Watch the Week in Business: Tax Blame Game

Play Video You can hear the spin a mile away; as the Chancellor’s team prepares for the Spring Statement the political groundwork is...

07.03.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves is gearing up for a blame game

You can hear the spin a mile away; as the Chancellor’s team prepares for the Spring Statement the groundwork is being laid. Despite the fact that...

07.03.2025 30

City A.M.

Christian May

Net Zero: weak economic growth, high energy prices and stagnant productivity?

No laughing matter: Net Zero policy needs cool heads How many times have we heard the argument that there is no trade-off between pursuing Net Zero...

06.03.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

A win on the world stage masks mounting trouble at home

Prime Minister Keir Starmer Keir Starmer has won plaudits for his decision to increase defence spending (albeit by less than the amount he’s given...

05.03.2025 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Week in Business: Will more defence spending mean higher taxes?

Play Video Cutting the international aid budget to boost defence spending – sounds like a fair exchange in a time of war and hazard...

28.02.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Budget policies coming home to roost

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) With each passing day, the government’s insistence that economic growth is its “number one priority” sounds...

19.02.2025 20

City A.M.

Christian May