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Christian May

Christian May

City A.M.

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Budget policies coming home to roost

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 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour has sucked the confidence out of wealthy Brits

Labour has sucked the confidence out of wealthy Brits

The government defines a high net worth individual as someone with an income of at least £170,000 and net assets of more than £430,000. Such people...

14.02.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

BP’s Net Zero push has crashed into reality

BP’s Net Zero push has crashed into reality

BP seems poised to row back from recent pledges on Net Zero I remember when I first encountered a hard copy FTSE 100 annual report. I was a first...

13.02.2025 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Week in Business: Growth hammer blow means Reeves must change course

Week in Business: Growth hammer blow means Reeves must change course

Play Video If the Chancellor was still on a high from last week’s big growth-focused speech, the Bank of England has just pulled her...

08.02.2025 7

City A.M.

Christian May

Is Reeves heading for a fiscal car crash?

Is Reeves heading for a fiscal car crash?

Boxed in: the Chancellor faces tough choices Rachel Reeves has a deep respect for officialdom and institutions and was aghast at the way Liz Truss...

07.02.2025 20

City A.M.

Christian May

Trump’s tariffs reveal reality of Dealmaker-in-Chief

Trump’s tariffs reveal reality of Dealmaker-in-Chief

It’s Trump’s world now and the rest of us are just living in it Things happen quickly in Trump’s America. On Saturday, the US President...

05.02.2025 6

City A.M.

Christian May

The Week in Business: is Reeves right to be an optimist?

Play Video This was the week when Barclays became the latest big employer to tighten up its work from home policies, now requiring...

01.02.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Politicians should drop their obsession with Silicon Valley

Successive British politicians have reached for Silicon Valley – or the idea of Silicon Valley – every time they’ve wanted to project a vision...

31.01.2025 1

City A.M.

Christian May

Glaring contradiction at heart of government growth agenda

Growthbusters: Starmer and Reeves have embarked on a contradictory growth agenda In the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (stay with me)...

29.01.2025 2

City A.M.

Christian May

The Week in Business: Reeves tries to rescue the non-doms

Play Video It’s a funny old world when the pleas of pensioners, farmers and shopkeepers fall on deaf ears but a Labour chancellor...

25.01.2025 8

City A.M.

Christian May

Going for growth is a game of risk that ministers must embrace

In the words of the Lord Mayor of London, “the only way you get growth is via risk.” Alastair King made this observation early in November last...

22.01.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves has dodged a bullet but she’s surrounded by landmines

Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Isabel Infantes/PA Wire After all the excitement of a ministerial resignation, it’s time to check in on the...

17.01.2025 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Tulip mania was only ever going to end one way

A short-lived ministerial career Yesterday, I asked whether Tulip Siddiq would still be the City minister by the end of the day, and just as the sun...

16.01.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Disastrous school reform agenda is a solution in search of a problem

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (Photo by Richard Pohle – WPA Pool/Getty Images) A long time ago I got...

10.01.2025 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Zuck rediscovers love of free speech – just in time for Trump 2.0

Mark Zuckerberg outside Meta HQ (Source: MZ FB) Will Mark Zuckerberg’s drastic policy changes tempt me back to Facebook? Nope. I quit the platform...

09.01.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

With expectations so low, Starmer might just carve out a win

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) From a news perspective, the Christmas break was more Deck the Halls than Silent Night. Keir Starmer ended last...

08.01.2025 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer’s diplomacy downplays “epic scale” of Chinese spying

Yang Tengbo insists that he is not a spy and that he would “never do anything to harm the interests of the UK.” He was speaking yesterday after...

18.12.2024 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Growth is easier to destroy than to build

Labour’s policy changes have already had a clear negative impact on the economy Missions, milestones, foundations and pledges; Keir Starmer has...

17.12.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

All hail Rayner, destroyer of NIMBYs

Raise a glass to a Deputy PM on a mission to build Since Christmas is a time for hope, it’s worth appreciating the good news when we see it. The...

11.12.2024 10

City A.M.

Christian May

No Christmas cheer for employers as 2024 draws to a close

Tuesday December 3, 2024. PA Photo. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful at this time of year, but the state of the...

09.12.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer needs a rethink, not a relaunch

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer giving a speech shortly after taking office (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire) It doesn’t take a huge stretch of the...

04.12.2024 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Business leaders brace for a cold winter

Storms are coming. Jeff Moore/PA Wire Temperatures are set to fall again as a mid-week cold snap muscles in, bringing icy winds to accompany the...

02.12.2024 5

City A.M.

Christian May

Ministers are in denial over the Budget’s impact on jobs and growth

Any growth over there? Well, that didn’t last long. Barely 48 hours after the Chancellor told the CBI conference that the tax-hiking Budget was...

28.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Critics circle under-fire watchdog

The FCA needs to restore trust What unites firebrand socialist MPs and stalwarts of the Tory establishment? The answer – somewhat unbelievably –...

27.11.2024 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Reeves played fast and loose with business leaders’ trust

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference at the QEII Centre, London. Picture date:...

26.11.2024 9

City A.M.

Christian May

Substance must overtake style if Jaguar’s to stay in the race

The British car maker has taken new cars off sale to the general public for more than a year as it reinvents itself to launch three new electric...

25.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer’s war on farmers will end in tears

Farmers protest in central London over the changes to inheritance tax (IHT) rules in the recent budget. PA Photo. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA...

20.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer risks resurrecting Cameron’s failed China script

President Biden infuriated China by calling Jinping a “dictator” The Prime Minister has been mingling with world leaders in Brazil, and while his...

19.11.2024 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s assault on the private sector will come back to haunt them

Labour’s first few months in power have caused huge concern among employers The weekend’s papers groaned under the weight of business leaders’...

18.11.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Bosses believe WFH will come to an end – wishful thinking?

WFH, or join the commute? Given the City of London is a major destination for commuters (especially those working in professional services) the...

13.11.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

All hail the regulator going for growth

At last month’s Investment Summit in the City, Keir Starmer set out an admirably clear view of how he wants this country’s regulatory bodies to...

12.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Ministers either don’t understand private sector, or don’t care

The government’s first Budget heaps hundreds of millions of additional costs on business No politician could actually get away with telling...

11.11.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

It turns out Kamala never stood a chance

A huge majority of Americans felt the economy wasn’t working – and they wanted change In the end, the race for the White House was not determined...

06.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour cheered 1p off a pint but the Budget leaves a vicious hangover

The Budget has hammered hospitality and retail with massive cost increases As Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget one week ago, the loudest cheer...

06.11.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

As America votes, can US democracy survive without a WaPo endorsement?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, which this year hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate The US election has given rise to a...

05.11.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Badenoch wants a battle of ideas – we should wish her well

Kemi Badenoch is congratulated by her husband Hamish after she was announced as the new Conservative Party leader (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire) One...

04.11.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s tax raid is an act of spectacular dishonesty

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves poses for photographs as she leaves 11 Downing Street, London, before delivering her first Budget to the...

31.10.2024 8

City A.M.

Christian May

You can’t rebuild Britain by punishing people who build businesses

Businesses are right to be nervous about the Budget Today, the Chancellor will attempt to write this government into a grand historical narrative...

30.10.2024 10

City A.M.

Christian May

“Genuinely uplifting” – The City AM Dragon Awards for Social Impact

The rest of this week is going to be dominated by the Budget, so permit us a diversion today as this column focuses not on capital gains tax,...

29.10.2024 3

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s pro-business boasts ring hollow

Can Labour really claim to be running the most pro-business government ever? Rachel Reeves once vowed that if Labour won they “would be the most...

28.10.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

The walls are closing in on the Chancellor

It will take more than an IMF growth upgrade to make the Chancellor’s life easier With just one week to go until the Budget (arguably one of the...

23.10.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

It’s hard work working out what ‘working people’ means

Do you have a job? Are you in work? You might be one of Labour’s “working people.” Then again, you might not be. Politicians do like to lump...

22.10.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour must pull back from the brink and support the UK’s founders

Is it possible that Labour likes big business more than founders? With half term holidays upon us, Portugal is a safe bet for a bit of winter sun....

21.10.2024 2

City A.M.

Christian May

When it comes to national insurance, the government is pulling a fast one

Ultimately, employer national insurance is paid by employees One of the many problems the government has got itself into over tax rises that may...

16.10.2024 10

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer did well with the CEOs, but he can’t ignore the start-up founders

Jonathan Brady/PA Wire It rained pretty much all day in the City of London yesterday, but this didn’t stop Keir Starmer basking in the warm glow...

15.10.2024 4

City A.M.

Christian May

Starmer’s big day in the City

The Guildhall will host Starmer’s Investment Summit The Guildhall, in the heart of the City of London, has been a vital commercial centre for...

14.10.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

Labour’s arrogance is disrespectful to business

When it emerged that Boris Johnson reportedly muttered “f**K business” during a meeting as Prime Minister, he was rightly castigated. For many...

10.10.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

Chancellor’s tightrope walk will leave us holding our breath

Rachel Reeves By tradition, Chancellors are allowed a stiff drink at the despatch box as they deliver their Budget. Parliamentary records tell us...

08.10.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

It wasn’t supposed to be this way, was it?

Keir Starmer hasn’t had an easy three months Kremlinology is an old Cold War concept referring to the study of key individuals high up in the...

07.10.2024 1

City A.M.

Christian May

Demise of coal power is end of an era, but not an end in itself

Renewables now account for 40 – 50 per cent of UK electricity – but is it secure? A quiet revolution occurred in the very earliest moments of this...

01.10.2024 4

City A.M.

Christian May