Explore Business Standard
UK Govt
Following weeks of speculation, Britain's unpopular Labour government will deliver its second budget later Wednesday since it returned to power in a landslide election victory in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves, the first woman to hold the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, is set to tell lawmakers that more tax-raising measures are necessary to plug a hole in the public finances. Reeves said much the same at her first budget a little more than a year ago. That budget, she had insisted, would be the one and only big tax-raising budget in this parliamentary term, which is due to run to 2029. Unfortunately for Reeves, the British economy, the world's sixth-largest, is not doing as well as she hoped, with many critics blaming her decision last year to slap taxes on business. Though there were signs that the economy was on the mend in the first half of the year when it was the fastest-growing among the Group of Seven leading industrial nations, it'
Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi N Mittal, until now based in Britain and a regular on the country's richest billionaires tally, has decided to quit the UK as the Labour Party-led government's feared tax shake-up for the super-rich nears, according to a UK media report on Sunday. Rajasthan-born Mittal is a resident in Switzerland for tax and will now spend much of his future in Dubai, according to the The Sunday Times'. The founder of ArcelorMittal steelworks is worth an estimated 15.4 billion pounds as per the 2025 Sunday Times Rich List', which ranked him the UK's eighth richest man. Now, the newspaper references sources close to the 75-year-old industrialist to claim he has become the latest billionaire to leave the UK ahead of a much-anticipated Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Wednesday. Mittal already has a mansion in Dubai and has now bought up tracts of an intriguing development on the nearby Naa Island in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the newspaper claims. The n
Britain's government rallied to the defence of the BBC on Tuesday after allegations of bias from its critics and the threat of a lawsuit from US President Donald Trump over the way the broadcaster edited a speech he made after losing the 2020 presidential election Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the national broadcaster faces challenges, some of its own making, but is by far the most widely used and trusted source of news in the United Kingdom. With critics in media and politics demanding an overhaul of the BBC's funding and governance, Nandy said "the BBC as an institution is absolutely essential to this country". At a time when the lines are being dangerously blurred between facts and opinions, news and polemic, the BBC stands apart, she said in the House of Commons. A lawyer for Trump is demanding a retraction, apology and compensation from the broadcaster over the allegedly defamatory sequence in a documentary broadcast last year. Fallout from the documentary has already cla
British police said Sunday that one of two men arrested in connection with a mass stabbing attack that spread fear and panic on a London-bound train a day earlier has been released without charge, and that one person, a heroic member of the railway staff, remains in a life-threatening condition. In a statement Sunday evening, police said the only remaining suspect is a 32-year-old British man who remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. A second man initially arrested as a suspect was released without charge after it was determined the 35-year-old was not involved. Police said they are not treating the stabbings as an act of terror and are confident they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. They have not disclosed a possible motive or the type of knife used. Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident," said Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy of the British Transport
US President Donald Trump arrives in the United Kingdom on Tuesday for a state visit during which the British government hopes a multibillion-dollar technology deal will show the transatlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of the Western alliance. State visits in Britain blend 21st-century diplomacy with royal pageantry. Trump's two-day trip comes complete with horse-drawn carriages, military honour guards and a glittering banquet inside a 1,000-year-old castle all tailored to a president with a fondness for gilded splendour. King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle before the president holds talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader's rural retreat. Starmer's office said the visit will demonstrate that the UK-US relationship is the strongest in the world, built on 250 years of history after that awkward rupture in 1776 and bound by shared values of belief in the rule of law and open ..
The UK police on Friday issued an appeal for information over an alleged rape of a British Sikh woman earlier this week, which the force said is being treated as a racially aggravated assault. Police said it was called on Tuesday morning after the woman, in her 20s, reported being sexually attacked at Tame Road, Oldbury, in the Sandwell area of the West Midlands region of England. The two white male suspects are said to have targeted the woman and made a racist remark during the attack. We're investigating after a woman reported to us that she had been raped in Oldbury in what we are treating as a racially aggravated attack, West Midlands Police statement said. The woman has told us that a racist remark was made to her during the attack. We are currently treating it as an isolated incident, the statement added. Police said they are keen to speak with anyone in the area who may have seen the two suspects. One of them is said to have a shaved head, heavy build and was reported to be
British officials are working to get critically sick and injured children out of Gaza so they can receive specialist treatment in UK hospitals, the British foreign secretary said Monday, adding that the first patients will arrive in coming weeks. David Lammy said he was outraged by Israel not allowing enough aid to enter Gaza as he announced USD 20 million more for medical assistance for Gaza and the region. This is not a natural disaster, it's a manmade famine in the 21st century, he said. I'm outraged by the Israeli government's refusal to allow in sufficient aid. We all know there is only one way out an immediate ceasefire, Lammy added. He told lawmakers that British officials are also supporting students from Gaza who have been granted scholarships at UK universities so that they can start their studies in the fall. Lammy said a massive humanitarian response was needed to prevent more Palestinians from dying and starving after the world's leading authority on food crises said
The death of industrialist Sunjay Kapur has been found to be due to natural causes as per the UK authorities, amid allegations of a foulplay by his mother Rani Kapur. Kapur, the former Chairman of auto components major Sona BLW Precision Forgings (Sona Comstar), passed away due to left ventricular hypertrophy and ischemic heart disease, as per the coroner's report shared by office of his wife Priya Sachdev Kapur. The findings come at a time when various reports have cited that Sunjay's mother Rani Kapur has approached UK authorities, demanding a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding her son's death in London. Sunjay Kapur, chairman of Sona Comstar, passed away in London on June 12 while playing polo. Following his demise, the company's board unanimously appointed Jeffery Mark Overly as the chairman on June 23, 2025. Rani Kapur, mother of Sunjay and former chairperson of the Sona group, in a letter dated July 24 to the board alleged that while the family mourned the
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said on Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's UN Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call on Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two US officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon. The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The UK, France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear programme, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the US during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the acco