Person
John Healey, Labour MP serving as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for the Budget, tax and spending decisions and the government's fiscal rules.
Jamie Dimon has said he could reconsider JPMorgan's Canary Wharf tower if the UK turns hostile to banks, an investment projected to add up to £10bn. The £10bn is a six-year estimate of local impact; the tower itself is put at £3bn.
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Lloyds and NatWest fell about 2% on Friday after reports that Chancellor John Healey may restore the bank profit surcharge to 8% from 3%. The TUC puts the yield at £2.25bn a year, but the Treasury has not confirmed the option ahead of the October 28 Budget.
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John Healey is poised to raise bank taxes in his 28 October budget, the Guardian understands, with one option worth upwards of £2bn a year. The proceeds would help cover higher borrowing costs from the Middle East war, and the banks have already warned in writing that they could move staff and business abroad.
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City AM reported that bank bosses and industry leaders will run scenario analysis on a Budget bank tax, a day after Healey praised banks at the IMF. The sources show firms modelling a range of outcomes, with no Treasury confirmation of any plan.
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The UK economy grew 0.1% in August, defying forecasts of a slight contraction, the ONS figures show. Chancellor John Healey is promising relief on business costs in a Budget two weeks away, on the condition that it is paid for inside that Budget.
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UK GDP grew 0.1% in August, the Office for National Statistics said. The 0.7% three-month growth owes part of its strength to revisions, with the Chancellor's Budget about two weeks away.
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TUC analysis of official figures says UK households have paid an extra £13,961 on bills since 2021, or £2,792 a year. Almost two-thirds of it is mortgage cost, so the figure measures borrowers more closely than it measures households in general.
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Chancellor John Healey is reportedly set to make online marketplaces collect VAT at source for sellers turning over more than £90,000, the Times reported. The Treasury has not confirmed it. Amazon puts the yield, earmarked for business rates cuts, at about £700m against the £1bn reported.
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Foreign secretary Ed Miliband will ask the World Bank and other development banks to use their balance sheets to refinance developing-country debt. Debt Justice welcomed the focus but says private lenders must share the cost.
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IMF raised its 2026 UK growth forecast to 1.3% from 1%, and trimmed 2027 to 1.2% from 1.3%. Its 2027 inflation forecast moved further, to 2.8% from 2.4%, and the IFS says inflation will erode departmental budgets before the 28 October Budget.
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John Healey did not confirm any Budget measures to retail bosses, while the BRC says their taxes rose 20 per cent in two years. Both trade bodies called the talks positive, and that is the only support on the record for a plan that assumes a cut.
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IMF raises its 2026 UK growth forecast to 1.3%, up 0.3 points from July, a little over a fortnight before Healey's first budget. It told him to stay the course on the deficit, but its warning on energy subsidies was addressed to every member government, so the budget's contents are still open.
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Bellway chief executive Jason Honeyman says Your First Home, a 20% equity loan on a 2.5% deposit, could slow the housing market until it launches. The Guardian reported he also sees a volume gain of around 10%, with full terms due in the 28 October budget.
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Chancellor John Healey has internally ruled out aligning capital gains tax with income tax before the 28 October Budget, the Financial Times reported. The Treasury has not confirmed it, so sellers can treat full alignment as unlikely this quarter while waiting for the Budget statement itself.
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The IFS says inflation could force Chancellor John Healey to add up to £35bn to departmental budgets by decade-end, a bigger problem than borrowing costs. Headroom for 2029-30 slips only to about £20bn from £24bn, so the harder Budget call is on departmental spending.
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Chancellor John Healey may need an extra £25bn in 2029-30 to hold departmental budgets against war-driven inflation, by the IFS's estimate. He is not obliged to set spending totals in his 28 October Budget, so the choice between cuts and tax rises could wait until next year.
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Cmit, the LSE-led City taskforce, has asked Chancellor John Healey for pension tax breaks, including a dividend credit costing up to £742m a year. The measures aim to draw pension and ISA money into UK shares over years to 2042, so a board choosing between London and New York this year would still list into today's market.
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M&S and John Lewis bosses are pressing Chancellor John Healey to cut retail's tax burden, with the Budget less than three weeks away. Most of what they want is protection from new charges, so their campaign is a fight to stop retail bills rising further.
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The TUC says cutting the bank surcharge from 8% to 3% in 2023 cost the UK £6bn over three years. It wants a higher rate at the 28 October budget, so bank finance teams have a scenario to price while the Treasury has not stated its intentions.
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Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said credible budgets can curb risk premia in a Middle East conflict, as 10-year gilts near 5.5% from 4.2% in March. For companies, Chancellor John Healey's Budget this month now affects borrowing costs alongside the Bank's next rate move.
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