By: Mauricio Alencar

Politics and Economics Reporter Maurício Alencar is CityAM’s Politics and Economics Reporter. He covers the state's relationship with Canada and UK business, jumping between Westminster and the Square Mile. He picks up all stories on UK economics data ranging from inflation to immigration, as well as the Bank of England, the Treasury, business surveys, and all stories important or interesting to the decision-makers. He used to cover sports, foreign news and home news at various publications – plus investigations, which he plans to continue to pursue.

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Starmer blocks sleaze inquiry despite Tory and Labour pressure

April 28, 2026

Sir Keir Starmer has won a vote to block a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled MPs over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite significant pressure from opposition parties and some Labour MPs. Labour backbenchers voted down a Tory motion to launch a so-called “sleaze inquiry” by the Privileges Committee [...]
‘Knife through my soul’: McSweeney, Starmer and Whitehall war over Mandelson saga

April 28, 2026

Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who pushed for Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, has said that further revelations over the disgraced peer’s links to Jeffrey Epstein were a “knife through my soul”. In a blockbuster appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee, McSweeney apologised for urging the Prime Minister to appoint [...]
‘Stuff of nightmares’: Hold interest rates, CityAM Shadow MPC says

April 28, 2026

Interest rates should be left unchanged in April but the future path of monetary policy could be unclear, CityAM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee has suggested. A group of City economists and academics has called for interest rates to be left at 3.75 per cent on Thursday, citing the risk of higher inflation due to [...]
Labour peer tells Reeves not to use headroom as ‘piggy bank’ for spending

April 28, 2026

A Labour peer has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to avoid using her larger fiscal headroom as a “piggy bank” to fund extra government spending increases. A report by senior House of Lords members said the Chancellor should add further protections to public finances, leaping to the defence of the Office for Budget Responsibility for improving [...]
‘Drag on prosperity’: Next boss demands planning system overhaul in rallying cry for growth

April 27, 2026

The UK’s planning rulebook should be torn up in favour of a market-based system, the boss of one of the country’s biggest listed companies has said, as he urged government ministers to take a “radical” approach to kickstarting economic growth. Speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies conference in the heart of the City, Lord [...]
Jenrick to re-write ‘Britannia Card’ plan for wealthy investors

April 27, 2026

Reform UK are set to revise the terms of its ‘Britannia Card’ proposal, which was drafted as the party’s bid to lure wealthy foreign investors to the UK, Robert Jenrick has revealed. Jenrick, who is Reform’s Treasury spokesman, hinted that party officials were working on a proposal that was “even better” than a policy announced [...]
Bank of England dissenters expected to back interest rate hikes

April 27, 2026

Economists have suggested that at least two members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could vote for interest rates to be hiked later this week. Analysts at JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs have predicted that hawkish policymakers will push back against leaving interest rates unchanged. The Bank’s chief economist Huw [...]
Wealth tax would ‘create unfairness’, IFS says

April 27, 2026

Annual wealth taxes would create “complexity, distortions and unfairness”, a new Institute for Fiscal Studies report has said, as policymakers have been advised to consider the trade-offs involved in addressing forms of inequality. The IFS’ Deaton Review, which involved research conducted over six years, found that an annual levy on wealth would have “serious drawbacks” [...]
Lord Hannan made IEA chief

April 24, 2026

The Institute of Economic Affairs has announced Lord Daniel Hannan as its new director general. Hannan, a former Tory MEP who was one of the top Vote Leave figures in 2016, will take up the post on 1 June 2026. He has long been an avid critic of the EU and was one of the [...]
‘Outlook uncertainty’: Interest rates to be left unchanged in crunch decision

April 24, 2026

The Bank of England is set to leave interest rates unchanged at a highly-anticipated meeting on Thursday as investors are looking for further guidance on the impact of the Iran war on the UK economy. Markets have all but priced in a hold at the Monetary Policy Committee’s next meeting, which would leave interest rates [...]

Serco hits back after Zia Yusuf accuses FTSE 250 firm of being ‘hostile to Reform’

Royal Ascot worth £140m to UK economy

The best places to eat sandwiches in Lisbon, from bifanas to pregos

By: Mauricio Alencar

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