The Senate is said to be close to clearing the megabill. Bloomberg reports that the Senate has voted 99-1 to remove a provision that would have prevented US states from regulating artificial intelligence. A blow for Big Tech and the White House.
Here is a snapshot of how the bill is viewed from both sides of the aisle.
Donald Trump, US president: “Republicans, the One Big Beautiful Bill, perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind in history, gives the largest Tax Cuts and Border Security ever, Jobs by the Millions, Military/Vets increases, and so much more. The failure to pass means a whopping 68% Tax increase, the largest in history!!!.”
Maria Cantwell, Democat senator: “It is those who can least afford it who are going to be hit the hardest … kicking 17 million Americans off Medicaid & other health insurance .. [it is] a cash grab for corporations and the rich — at the expense of everyone else.”
Marks and Spencer to be fully back online by August
M&S expects to have its online operations fully back up and functioning again by August as it continues to reel from a crippling cyberattack.
Half of the retailer’s online operations have returned to normal since the incident occurred on Easter weekend, but there remains work to be done around click and collect services and bringing more of the clothing range back online.
Stuart Machin, the chief executive, told the annual general meeting today: “Within the next four weeks, we’re aiming for the whole of online to be fully restored and open.”
He said the retailer then needed to get its warehouse in Castle Donington firing on all cylinders again: “We have to replenish Donington, get all the automation back up and running, and restart the engine all over again.”
Archie Norman, M&S’s chairman, said: “Hopefully, in a few weeks’ time, we’ll be humming … we’re on our way back.”
The Beatles’ Apple Corps gets new chief executive
The Beatles set up Apple Corps in the 1960s
GEORGE RINHART/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
Apple Corps, the company set up in 1968 to oversee The Beatles’ business interests, has appointed Tom Greene to become only the third chief executive in its storied history.
Greene, who has worked for the Harry Potter franchise and is now an executive at a competitive entertainment company, said: “Like so many people around the world, I grew up in a household obsessed with The Beatles and their music. At a time when the world might need more of The Beatles’ spirit, there are so many new and innovative ways to bring their unique magic to all generations of fans.”
In a joint statement, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Sean Ono Lennon said: “We have a lot of exciting plans and Tom’s experience and vision make him the perfect person to join us in making it all happen.”
Greene’s appointment comes ahead of the release of a four-film Beatles biopic, directed by Sam Mendes and due for release in April 2028.
Apple Corps paid out £2 million in dividends on profits before tax of £6.6 million in the year to January 31, 2024, according to latest company filings. This was down slightly on the previous year following the closure of Cirque du Soleil’s live theatrical Love show after an 18-year run in Las Vegas.
Markets await vote on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
London’s main stock indexes, alongside global peers, were treading water after the US Senate spent the night locked in talks over President Trump’s $3.3 trillion tax-and-spend package.
The internationally-focused FTSE 100 fell 0.3 per cent at noon to 8,733, while the domestically-oriented FTSE 250 slipped 0.2 per cent to 21,580.
Gains were led by precious metal stocks that rose 2.1 per cent as safe-haven gold edged up on a weaker dollar amid uncertainty over changes to the potential outcome of the massive bill.
Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta and Glencore were among the top gainers on the blue-chip, each adding more than 2 per cent Hochschild Mining gained 3.4 per cent on the midcap index.
Meanwhile, losses were led by the household goods and home construction index, which was down 1.6 per cent following S&P’s manufacturing PMI data which showed that the sector remains in contraction. Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Bellway all slipped at least 2 per cent.
Packaging firm Mpac Group shares dropped almost 30 per cent after the Tadcaster-based company blamed lower-than-expected annual results on US tariffs weighing on orders.
The pound edged up 0.4 per cent to $1.378, having yesterday chalked up its strongest quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2022.
UK must accelerate renewables to curb energy shocks
Cornwall Insight’s latest forecast for the October energy price cap comes with a health warning: even the modest £22-a-year dip is subject to “significant uncertainty” amid global instability.
It comes on the day Ofgem’s latest price cap adjustment — a fall of 7 per cent , or £129 — takes effect for households not signed up to a fixed tariff. The latest cap is £660 (28 per cent) lower than at the height of the 2023 energy crisis but average bills are still £152 or 10 per cent higher than the same period last year and hundreds of pounds up on pre-pandemic prices.
Underscoring this, the latest prediction comes as Ofgem announced the go-ahead to a £24 billion of investment to upgrade UK energy infrastructure, which will push up network charges on household bills by more than £100.
Craig Lowrey, Cornwall Insight’s principal consultant, said: “Our reliance on international energy markets means that while we have a range of supply sources, this brings with it a vulnerability to global events and price shocks. If we want to bring real stability and affordability to the energy system, we need to continue, and speed up, our transition to homegrown, renewable power.
“This transition will not happen overnight, and there will be short-term costs along the way. However, in the long-term, building a more self-sufficient energy system is the only way to help shield consumers from international volatility and put us on a more secure and sustainable path for the future.”
Musk attacks Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
Two people wearing paper masks of Donald Trump and Elon Musk during the “No Kings” protest in June in New York
PABLO MONSALVE/VIEWPRESS/GETTY IMAGES
The public falling out between Elon Musk and President Trump continues. Musk, who until recently spearhead Trump’s government cost-cutting plan, is still angered by Trump ‘big beautiful’ budget bill which is expected to add about $3.3 trillion to the nation’s debt pile.
Musk posted on X: “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame.”
He added that if “this insane spending bill passes” a new political party should be formed.
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Trump said on Truth Social: “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!”
Energy bills to dip £22 in October
Cornwall Insight has released its latest forecast for the UK’s energy price cap, predicting that the October 2025 Default Tariff Cap will fall to £1,698 per year for a typical dual fuel household. This represents a modest £22, or one per cent, drop from the July 2025 cap of £1,720.
Volatility in the Middle East caused the forecast to peak in the middle of last month as wholesale energy prices spiked, but a de-escalation of conflict has helped stabilise the market.
Despite the small reduction, the energy cap remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the longer-term outlook suggests continued elevated pricing.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said:”While any reduction in energy bills is welcome, we must not let small fluctuations in the price cap mask the bigger picture. Households are still paying far more for their energy than they were before the pandemic, with the current outlook showing little prospect of a meaningful drop over the next few years.”
Bank to review pace of bond sales
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey does not believe that quantitative tightening is actually causing the steepening of the yield curve
ALASTAIR GRANT/AP
The Bank of England will begin a review of the pace of bond sales this summer after investors have warned the central bank’s actions are raising government borrowing costs, Mehreen Khan, Economics Editor, writes.
Andrew Bailey, the governor, said the Bank’s policymakers will assess the “appropriate” pace of quantitative tightening over the coming year, the process of selling gilts back to the market, with a decision to be made in September.
Longer-dated UK gilts have fallen in price this year, with yields rising. Traders have cited the government’s debt issuance and the Bank’s sales as a factor. The Bank is shrinking its balance at a rate of £100 billion a year, through active bond sales and by allowing gilts to mature.
Bailey told CNBC: “I don’t believe that quantitative tightening is actually causing the steepening of the yield curve, but the fact that the yield curves have steepened, it’s something that we will obviously look at in terms of the implications.”
Manufacturers ‘cautiously optimistic’
The manufacturing sector enjoyed its best output in five months in June and business confidence among firms rose to a four-month high, according to a closely-watched survey.
The UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, a measure of activity in the sector, hit 47.7 in June, improving on the 46.4 recorded in May. Any figure below 50 indicates an overall contraction in output, but June’s figure is the highest since the start of the year, according to S&P Global, which helped compile the survey.
Manufacturing firms, which make up around a third of the UK economy, have been stung by high energy costs, inflation, trade uncertainty and the rise in payroll taxes from this year.
Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global, said there were “signs of conditions stabilising” in the sector.
“Manufacturers continue to caution their optimism with concerns about heightened geopolitical tensions, weak global markets, tariff uncertainties and fears over the direction of future government policy,” he said.
Record year for Manchester Airports Group
Manchester Airports Group, which also owns Stansted and East Midland airports, racked up a record year handling more than 64 million passengers in the year to the end of March, Robert Lea writes.
Operating profits rose 12 per cent to £570 million over the year and revenues came in at £1.3 billion, up 8 per cent.
Manchester Airport handled more than 30 million passengers a year the first time, with 31.1 million people passing through the airport over the 12 months.
Stansted, London’s third airport, handled 29.1 million passengers and East Midlands, which is more of a freight hub, handled 4 million.
Southern Water owner injects £1.2bn into troubled utility
Southern Water has been bailed out — yet again — by its owner Macquarie, the Australian finance house best known as the previous owner of Thames Water and all that has unfolded there since, Robert Lea, Industrial Editor, writes.
Macquarie says it is putting up up to a further £1.2 billion to get Southern through the current five year spending cycle as the south coast utility struggles with one of the worst pollution records in the country.
Macquarie first rescued Southern from financial collapse and a potential temporary renationalisation and special administrator regime in the depths of the pandemic.
It came back with a further refinancing in 2023. The latest injection means Macquarie will have now put in up to £2.85 billion in the hope it can turn Southern round.
Sainsbury’s gets lift from cyber woes at Marks
Sainsbury’s said it had benefited “a little bit” from the cyber attack at rival Marks & Spencer, which disrupted trading between April and June.
Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the supermarket chain, which reported a near 5 per cent rise in quarterly sales, said: “It stands to reason if you know, if a particular store is lower on stock in the moment, a customer will go somewhere nearby. So we’ve had a little bit of benefit.”
Shares in J Sainsbury, which were trading up 2 per cent at the start of the day, are currently up just 0.4 per cnet at 291p as early gains fade.
Ofgem approves £24bn energy upgrade
ASHLEY COOPER/GETTY IMAGES
The energy regulator has given the provisional green light to an initial £24 billion investment programme to enhance energy security, while enabling the transmission of more clean energy from renewable sources.
An initial £8.9 billion investment is being committed to Britain’s high-voltage electricity network, to power the biggest expansion of the electricity grid since the 1960s.
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem chief executive, said: “Britain’s reliance on imported gas has left us at the mercy of volatile international gas prices … This record investment will deliver a homegrown energy system that is better for Britain and better for customers. It will ensure the system has greater resilience against shocks from volatile gas prices we don’t control. ”
Retailers and miners lift FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 is trading up 16 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 8,777.36 this morning, with Sainsbury’s the biggest riser after a bullish trading update.
Rivals M&S and Tesco rose after the supermarket chain said sales have been boosted by the sunny weather.
A weaker dollar and jitters over President Trump’s tax bill and tariffs has lifted the gold price 1.1 per cent to $3,338.43 an ounce and buoyed gold miner Fresnillo.
National Grid rose after the energy regulator has given the provisional green light to an initial £24 billion investment programme to enhance energy security.
Shares in banks, engineers and housebuilders fell.
Rachel Reeves set to limit savings in cash Isas
The government is expected to push ahead with a contentious plan to limit the amount of money that savers can put into cash Isas each year as part of efforts to revive Britain’s troubled stock market, Ben Martin writes.
There has been speculation for months that Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will reform the rules governing the tax-free accounts in a bid to encourage more of the public to invest. Currently, individuals can save £20,000 a year in a range of Isa products, of which cash Isas are by far the most popular.
However, Reeves is preparing to impose a lower limit on cash Isas, while keeping the overall £20,000 allowance unchanged, according to the Financial Times. It is unclear where the new threshold for cash will be set.
The chancellor could unveil the revamp when she delivers her next speech to City grandees at Mansion House on July 15, when she is due to set out the government’s growth and competitiveness strategy for the financial services industry.
Read in full: Rachel Reeves set to cut amount savers can put in cash Isas
Aviva’s £3.7bn takeover of Direct Line cleared
The competition regulator has cleared Aviva’s acquisition of the motor and home insurer Direct Line for £3.7 billion.
The deal will create one of the biggest motor insurers in the UK. It is expected to result in around 2,000 job cuts as the group moves to capture £125 million of cost savings.
Sainsbury’s sales rise 5 per cent in first quarter
Britain’s second-largest food retailer said warm weather and market share growth helped quarterly sales rise more than expected.
Sales at Sainsbury’s grew by nearly 5 per cent in the first quarter after an aggressive price campaign, boosting its market share to a nine-year high.
Simon Roberts, the chief executive, said: “Boosted by a sunny spring, we’re already off to a great start.”
For the full year, the group is sticking to forecasts for retail underlying operating profit of around £1 billion and retail free cash flow of more than £500 million.
House price growth slows in June
The annual rate of house price growth slowed to 2.1 per cent in June from 3.5 per cent in May on weaker demand following the increase in stamp duty at the start of April, data from the mortgage lender Nationwide showed.
The average price of a home is £271,619, down from £273,427 in May.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Nevertheless, we still expect activity to pick up as the summer progresses, despite ongoing economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential homebuyers in the UK remain supportive.”
He said the unemployment rate remains low, wages are rising after stripping out inflation and borrowing costs are likely to fall in the coming quarters.
Northern Ireland remained the top-performing area, with annual house price growth of 9.7 per cent. East Anglia was weakest, with 1.1 per cent year-on-year rise.
Smythson sold to private equity
Smythson sold its New Bond Street store last year during the slowdown in the global luxury sector
ALAMY
Smythson, the 138-year-old leather goods maker which holds a royal warrant, has been sold to a private equity company after several years of losses and declining sales, writes Isabella Fish, Retail Editor.
The company has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Oakley Capital, founded by the financier and chief executive Peter Dubens. It has been owned by Tivoli Group, one of Italy’s largest handbag makers, since 2009.
Smythson, which sold its Bond Street store last year as it struggled amid a global luxury slowdown, warned earlier this year that demand in the luxury sector remained “uncertain” as it posted another decline in annual sales.
Smythson was started in 1887 by Frank Smythson, who opened a New Bond Street boutique promising “stationery and fancy articles of a high-class character”.
Trump’s tax bill and tariffs weigh on dollar
US senators are expected to vote into Tuesday morning on a series of amendments to President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”
ALAMY
The dollar has weakened overnight as President Donald Trump’s spending bill fueled fiscal concerns and uncertainty around trade deals hit sentiment.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, slipped to 96.612, its lowest since February 2022. Sterling rose against the dollar to $1.3742.
Stock markets in Asia edged higher, except for Japan’s Nikkei index, which fell on uncertainties around US-Japan trade talks. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Japan’s reluctance to import American-grown rice was a sign that countries have become “spoiled with respect to the United States of America”.
The gold price rose, with the safe-haven asset supported by the weaker dollar and uncertainty over tariff policies ahead of Trump’s July 9 deadline. The price rose 0.8% to $3,329.63 an ounce.