13 times Elon Musk meddled in politics

The X owner and Donald Trump pick will never, ever stop posting โ€” governments be damned.

11 deadly trip wires for Keir Starmer as UK politics roars back

MPs are returning to parliament afresh in 2025. But numerous dangers lurk for the British government.

37 words that sum up a wild 2024 in British politics

From Elon to sausages, it’s been … a lot.

UK budget: 7 things to watch for as Labour hikes taxes

From splashing the cash to going for growth, here’s how Britain’s first female chancellor wants to run the economy.

Labour steals Tory playbook for financial blame game

Labour, with an eye on the next election, wants voters to hear that the public finances are worse than they thought โ€” so blame the Tories for higher taxes.

Democracyโ€™s at risk, itโ€™s time politicians stopped fibbing

Politicians and the truth have always been strained acquaintances, but faced with populist fabulists in our current post-truth era, is deception really the way to go?

French PM Attal pledges household finances boost ahead of legislative elections

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance would lower power bills, soften inheritance tax and link pensions to inflation if it wins a snap election, the prime minister said, seeking to counter the far right and a new left-wing bloc.

We read Nigel Farageโ€™s manifesto so you donโ€™t have to

The key eyebrow-raising pledges in the Reform UK ‘contract’ with the public.

Europeโ€™s alarming descent into extreme political acrimony and violence

Attempt on the Slovak prime minister’s life won’t lead to a world war, but it should be a wake-up call for all who care about democracy.

Labourโ€™s election policy positions, tracked

Absolutely everything you need to know about what the opposition party is promising ahead of the July 4 election.

IMF warns Tories against further UK tax cuts

Amid a higher debt burden, U.K. should not be considering pre-election tax cuts, forecaster says.

Tories pray for a miracle after a lackluster budget

A May general election now seems unlikely as Conservatives pin their hopes on an autumn tax surprise.

UK Budget 2024: All the highlights

POLITICO watched Jeremy Hunt’s big fiscal event so you didn’t have to.

Budget bonanza

SNEAK PEEK โ€” Budget expectations, from National Insurance cuts to inheritance tax latest. โ€” Bank capital treatment of SMEs might scupper retail-heavy budget plans. โ€” FCA investigates banksโ€™ loans to small businesses amid โ€œsuper complaint.โ€ Good morning โ€ฆ ITโ€™S BUDGET DAY! POLITICO reporters have been running around like headless chickens trying to get the goss. [โ€ฆ]

Welcome to budget week

SNEAK PEEK โ€”ย  Wednesdayโ€™s budget looms and weโ€™ve got the details. โ€”ย  Bank of England told to clamp down on excessive compliance breaches. โ€”ย Change of rules to allow fractional shares in ISAs set for delay. Good morning readers! We probably donโ€™t need to remind you that itโ€™s budget week this week. Itโ€™s going to be [โ€ฆ]

Government eyes City as conduit for philanthropy

SNEAK PEEK โ€• Government wants City firms to encourage wealthy clients to give money to charities. โ€• Market-based finance causing headaches for the Bank of England. โ€• Hunt warned not to cut taxes without spending review. Good morning! I hope you all survived the arctic-like weather yesterday and are sufficiently warm enough to read todayโ€™s [โ€ฆ]

โ€˜Iโ€™m creating the tax I would want to payโ€™: Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn on why she is giving away 90% of her wealth

By redistributing โ‚ฌ25m of her fortune, 31-year-old hopes to shake up democracy in country that dropped its inheritance tax in 2008As Marlene Engelhorn made her way through Davos last week, she was greeted a handful of times with expletives. The frosty …

7 tripwires for Rishi Sunak as 2024 fires up

With an election looming, the UK prime minister is facing his toughest year yet.

Will I have to pay inheritance tax twice on a Netherlands property?

I wonder if bringing proceeds from sale of parentsโ€™ home to UK for a deposit means I have to pay againQ Iโ€™m selling my parentsโ€™ home in the Netherlands after my brother and I inherited it. Weโ€™ll have to pay inheritance tax in the Netherlands but if I b…

Party like itโ€™s 2010? Rishi Sunak takes Tories back to the future

With David Cameron back in the Cabinet and Jeremy Hunt reviving tax policies from years ago, the UK Conservatives are hoping their old tricks are still the best.

Germanyโ€™s reunification, 33 years on: East-West divide persists

33 years after German reunification, wealth disparities still form the โ€œmost significant differencesโ€ between the former West and the East, German government Commissioner Carsten Schneider said, but differences within the government make it impossible …