By: Christian May

Editor-in-Chief Christian May is the Editor-in-Chief of CityAM. He served in the role from 2015 to 2020 and returned in 2024. He writes the daily Editor's Letter for print and online and releases The Week in Business roundup video each Thursday. He is particularly interested in the health of London's capital markets, economic policy, politics, regulation and business activity in Canada. He regularly appears in the broadcast media and presents a daily Business News slot on LBC at 0730, Monday to Friday. Find Christian on X and LinkedIn.

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All 574 Articles

Banks back in crosshairs as Labour eyes tax hikes

July 31, 2025

George Osborne’s likely payday from the sale of Robey Warshaw to US giant Evercore won’t be the first time he’s extracted money from the banking sector. In his inaugural 2010 Budget he announced a UK bank levy of 0.05 per cent on certain bank liabilities. Conceived in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the [...]
Cut tax for under 35s or watch them leave the country

July 30, 2025

The most pressing choice I faced over the past week was whether to swim in the pool or the sea. We lounged our way from lazy lunch to long dinner, occasionally mustering the energy to stroll to the boulangerie. As I put the key in the front door of our south London home last night [...]
Week in Business: Reeves bets on the banks but economy still hurting

July 17, 2025

Rachel Reeves set out to charm the City this week, but elsewhere, the economy is reeling from high taxes and low confidence.
Sticky inflation takes shine off Reeves’ week

July 17, 2025

If the Chancellor was hoping to bask in the glow of supportive front-page coverage the morning after her Mansion House speech, she would have been disappointed. The spectacular revelations of Whitehall’s hushed-up cock-up over Afghan refugees knocked her off the top of the news agenda pretty much across the board. Only CityAM gave her [...]
City raises a glass to Reeves’ reforms

July 16, 2025

The City may have been a bit damp and grey yesterday but the Chancellor appeared as a welcome ray of sunshine. At CityAM, we haven’t held back in our criticism of this government’s economic policies – and we’ll return to that theme before long, I’m sure – but we also believe in giving credit [...]
Tax debate goes from comedy to tragedy

July 15, 2025

When I suggested recently that we were going to experience déjà vu, with another summer of endless tax rise speculation, I didn’t imagine the experience would be quite so profound. And yet, having already enjoyed the spectacle last year of Labour MPs trying to define “working people” they’re now treating us to a rerun of [...]
Week in Business: The tragedy of Labour’s tax addiction

July 10, 2025

From the housing market to the stock exchange, some taxes need to be reformed or reduced - but this government only wants to hike rates.
Labour’s tax addiction will end in tears

July 10, 2025

It is now pretty much universally accepted that the government will launch a fresh tax raid in October’s budget. City economists expect the Treasury to be on the hunt for between £10bn and £20bn of additional revenue, though given the expensive u-turns on winter fuel payments and welfare reform combined with likely lower growth forecasts [...]
Brutal bean-counters break the news: we’re utterly broke

July 9, 2025

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 supply, and whatever reserves remained after 12 months of this government were snatched away from us yesterday by those bean-counting assassins at the Office for Budget Responsibility. Once a [...]
A wealth tax would be a disaster – and an admission of total failure

July 8, 2025

Why wouldn’t Downing Street rule out a wealth tax? It isn’t difficult, you just say “we will not introduce a wealth tax” and the show moves on. Instead, when asked about the growing clamour in Labour circles for new tax aimed squarely at the well-off, Downing Street’s spokesperson simply talked about the need for “the [...]

Ryanair hands O’Leary six-year extension

F* f* f***: Tennis star Moutet fined £4k per F-bomb for Queen’s Club outburst on BBC

Fogo de Chao nominated for Best Casual Dining Toast award

By: Christian May

All 574 Articles