£37k median, £1,260 raise, £110 real purchasing power. The math is the story: a 3.4% nominal bump that inflation ate down to 0.3% actual gain. The raise happened. The worker didn't get richer.

Rising rents forced 32% of UK tenants and 35% of London tenants to move home in the past year because they could no longer afford their housing costs, a new SpareRoom survey of 5,607 renters shows.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced new investment in futureproofing the London economy to avoid a 'jobs apocalypse' caused by the proliferation of AI.

A weakening jobs market has strengthened the case for a Bank of England interest rate cut next week.

The number of payrolled employees in the UK fell by 85,000 in the year to May 2026, confirming a sustained cooling in the jobs market even as monthly numbers stabilised.

The London Stock Exchange has announced LSE 24, a new venue that will let investors trade 24 hours a day, five days a week, from the first half of 2027.

In practical terms, a worker on the UK median salary of around £37,000 who received the average rise gained roughly £1,260 before tax, but only around £110 of that represents genuine extra spending power once rising prices come out of the calculation.

Thames Water will ban hosepipe use for all its drinking water customers from 00h01 on Thursday (23 July) 2026 after demand rose 10% above normal in the Thames Valley and 7% in London.

A new briefing from think tank the Resolution Foundation shows that around 94% of UK scale-ups sell to acquirers before reaching maturity, with overseas buyers taking roughly half of them.

O2 said each site delivers ten times more capacity than the infrastructure it replaces, allowing more customers to stream, make video calls and stay online in the busiest locations.

The UK Space Agency has opened £62 million in funding for British firms building satellite technology that promises better broadband for remote communities and stronger connectivity on trains, planes and ships.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will remove VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October, saving households around £45 a year in his first policy announcement since entering Downing Street.

Fewer than one in three British children now read in their free time, the lowest level recorded in 20 years.

The Government's student loan book has grown so large it accounts for 74% of the entire value of the state's loan and equity portfolio, dwarfing every other public investment combined, according to a new Resolution Foundation report.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period", but think tank the Resolution Foundation warns the government cannot actually deliver it.

Ofcom has opened the upper 6 GHz spectrum band to Wi-Fi services, moving ahead of Europe in a decision that promises faster wireless speeds across UK homes, stadiums, schools and offices.

Andy Burnham has officially become the UK's seventh Prime Minister in the last 10 years, taking office on Monday 20 July 2026.

Sky has announced free global roaming in 120 destinations for its longest-standing customers.

The cross-party group of MPs, chaired by Helen Hayes, concluded that the current curriculum leaves no room for enjoyment and that children are abandoning reading as a result.

Sir Keir Starmer has officially stepped down as Prime Minister, handing his resignation to the King earlier today.

44% of Brits believe cell-cultivated meat should not go on sale in the UK, against 34% who think it should, according to the Food Standards Agency.

MPs have warned that a new government reading test for year eight pupils risks making teenagers hate reading even more.

Drivers using claims firms to seek car finance compensation risk losing over 30% of any payout in fees, the Financial Conduct Authority has warned.

MPs want every baby in England automatically issued with a library card when their birth is registered.

Virgin Media O2 has created its own AI robots to monitor its television network in real-time, mimicking the experience of real viewers.

Thousands of people whose sensitive data was stolen in the Legal Aid Agency cyber-attack have still not been told, because the agency's fragmented IT systems make it impossible to work out who they are.

Every library authority in England will be eligible for funding to lend musical instruments and run free music sessions under a scheme backed by at least £12.5 million.

64% of UK households ate food past its use-by date in the last month to cut costs, according to the Food Standards Agency.

Ocado's most advanced warehouse now picks an average of 315 items per labour hour, a UK grocery industry record pace revealed in the company's half year results on Thursday (16 July).

The government plans to stop repeat legal challenges from delaying thousands of new homes and major infrastructure projects across Britain.

A part-time nanny costs UK families between £17.56 and £22.64 per hour in 2026, according to payroll specialist Nannytax.

London is running out of burial spaces, and Sadiq Khan's new plan encourages boroughs to re-use old graves instead of digging new ones.

Asda will relaunch its online grocery business on Ocado's technology platform from 2027, replacing its webshop and overhauling how stores pick and deliver orders.

Tax changes mulled by Andy Burnham, who is poised to become the UK's next Prime Minister in the coming weeks, could lead to far more homeowners paying the 'mansion tax' announced by Rachel Reeves last year.

Great British Railways (GBR) Anglia unveiled the new GBR-branded trains at London Liverpool Street station on Thursday 16 July 2026.

British motorists face further motoring tax reform as the switch to electric vehicles hollows out the £24 billion that Fuel Duty raised last year, new research from the Resolution Foundation shows.

Andy Burnham has been officially elected as leader of the Labour Party. In his maiden speech, he called for a break with toxic politics and the failures of the past.

The government confirmed on Thursday (16 July) that England will ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s from April 2027, with retailers facing fines of up to £2,500 for breaking the rules.

Ocado Retail limited its average selling price increase to 2.1% in the first half of 2026, far below UK grocery inflation of 3.9%.

Disruptions are expected on a number of Underground and Overground lines this weekend, including services to and from Heathrow Airport.

Ofcom has proposed a new radar licence to help airports, prisons and power stations detect hostile drones earlier, alongside plans to open more airwaves for legitimate drone services.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warns that AI replacing UK workers could cut tax receipts by nearly 4% of GDP and force new taxes on consumption, wealth, or AI itself.

Frozen stamp duty thresholds mean that 79.7% of first-time buyers in London today face a stamp duty bill, compared with less than one in ten in the North.

Ocado can now deliver a full grocery shop to UK customers in as little as 100 minutes after rolling out its Swift Router technology across all six of its automated warehouses.

Frozen tax thresholds have pulled almost eight million more Britons into paying income tax since 2021, equal to a fifth of all taxpayers, new HMRC figures show.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has published his draft London Plan, which prioritises building affordable housing and making space for data centre development.

In February, a leaflet from Wandsworth Council came through my door announcing that for the fourth consecutive year the borough was freezing Council Tax. It's not looking at a 230% increase.

Landlords faced with rising costs and mortgage rates, as well as new protections introduced in the Renters' Rights Act, have raised prices to offset costs and risks.

Police officers across the UK will use AI to review and summarise criminal evidence under Home Office reforms expected to free up six million hours of police time per year by 2028.

O2 has switched on its next-generation 5G+ mobile network in Oxfordshire, bringing faster and more reliable connectivity to 495 towns, villages, and hamlets in the region.