UK bank shares tumble after call for windfall tax on lenders in budget
UK bank shares tumbled on Friday, cutting the combined stock market value of some of the biggest companies in the sector by more than £6bn, as fresh calls for a windfall tax on large lenders in the autumn budget spooked investors.Calls for a tax grab, in a paper written by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank, took a toll on some of the UK’s biggest high street banks.NatWest was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 on Friday, down nearly 5%.Shares in Lloyds Banking Group fell more than 3% and Barclays was down 2%.HSBC shares fell nearly 1%.
The falls cut the market value of the banks by a total of about £6.4bn.Rumours are swirling over a number of potential tax increases – including on banks, property and landlords’ rental income – which could help the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, plug a shortfall of up to £40bn in the public finances.The IPPR’s report calls for a new tax on the big banks that would help to recover “windfalls” enjoyed by lenders as a result of an emergency economic policy known as quantitative easing, which was put in place after the 2008 financial crisis.The policy involved the Bank of England buying up £895bn of bonds from the UK’s banks and crediting them with reserves at the Bank.
Those reserves subsequently accrued interest at the central bank’s base interest rate: currently at 4%.While the Bank of England is winding down QE – a process known as quantitative tightening – the central bank is now paying out higher interest rates on banks’ reserves than it is receiving on the bonds it holds.That has resulted in a £22bn-a-year loss to the public finances, according to the IPPR.The IPPR is now recommending a new bank levy, akin to a tax on deposits introduced by the Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981.The thinktank said it would help “recoup some of these windfalls and put the money to far better use, helping people and the economy, not just bank balance sheets”.
Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionHowever, Neil Wilson, the UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said that while banks were “easy pickings politically”, a fresh tax would not align with Labour’s message about the City’s role in spurring growth.“Does it chime with a pro-growth agenda if you constrain their ability to create new [money] by lending?”Richard Hunter, the head of markets at Interactive Investor, also cautioned that any suggestion of a windfall tax was “likely to have an exaggerated impact given the government’s obvious need to raise more income in an attempt to mitigate its financial difficulties”.
USA 31-31 Australia: 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup – as it happened
I’m not exaggerating when I say that was one of the best games of rugby I’ve ever watched.There’s a tendency to over hype the women’s game. To compensate for the unjust inequities, the blatant sexism and the years of neglect. There’s also an understandable need to focus less on results and the quality of rugby and shine a light on the stories of the individuals involved, to champion those heroes who have sacrificed so much to represent their nations.No need on this one
Australia and USA draw thriller to bring belated jeopardy to Rugby World Cup
Here was the captivating arm-wrestle we had been waiting for. Second place in Pool A behind England was probably on the line, and both teams gave everything in an utterly compelling match with a barely believable script.Neither deserved to lose, and if England comfortably defeat the Wallaroos next week, it should come down to points difference between these two sides for a place in the last eight. After Eva Karpani’s concluding try for Australia, Samantha Wood’s simple conversion chance could have won it five minutes from time, but she pulled it, in doing so arguably guaranteeing the right result.The precocious wing Desiree Miller and the 18-year-old full-back Caitlyn Halse both scored twice for the Wallaroos, while Freda Tafuna was credited with a hat-trick, although the No 6 said the third was scored by Hope Rogers
Joy for Samoa as Harmony Vatau kicks their first World Cup points for 11 years | Andy Bull
You can keep the 92 points England scored. Let’s talk about Samoa’s three. It’s been 11 years since Samoa recorded a point in a World Cup match. They didn’t qualify for the tournaments in 2017 or 2021, and they were whitewashed 73-0 by Australia in the first round of this one on the opening weekend. So Franklin’s Gardens fell awfully quiet when the team won a scrum penalty just inside England’s half in the 42nd minute, 32m out, and straight in front of the posts
John Mitchell demands England improve despite record World Cup win over Samoa
England’s victory over Samoa was a record Rugby World Cup win for the Red Roses but the head coach, John Mitchell, said “their basics let them down” during a period in the second half where they took their foot off the gas. The Red Roses raced to a 47-0 half-time lead but fumbled lineouts and had knock-ons which thwarted their momentum during the second half. Mitchell praised his team but said it was a task to keep up the pressure.Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionMitchell said: “Firstly, I thought the start was an energetic, very clinical start. I think as the game wore on and the scoreboard was building, it was always going to be this group’s challenge to stay in the process and build pressure
‘It’s only going to get bigger’: Australia embraces the Japanese game that turns rubbish into sport
Caitlin Cassidy competes in Australia’s World Cup spogomi qualifier, a fun event that’s really about raising environmental awareness, in ManlyIt’s Saturday morning at Manly beach and you could cut the tension with a knife.Nearly 100 people are crouched over piles of litter, frantically sorting them into coloured tote bags. A man wearing an umpire bib looms over a group beside us and blows his whistle.“Two minutes!” he calls. “Two minutes!” The team is trying to figure out if a discarded tennis racket counts as “non-burnable waste” or “bulky waste”
England 92-3 Samoa: Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 – as it happened
Sarah Rendell’s match report from Northampton has just landed.With that I’ll say cheerio as I switch my attention to the Wallaroos versus Eagles clash.That was a rout from the English though Samoa showed plenty of pluck. “A David v Goliath match” as Sarah calls it. This time, David had no chance
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