5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today – 29 July 2025.

Trump tells Starmer to slash taxes and migration to beat Farage: Donald Trump told Sir Keir Starmer how he should slash taxes and stamp out illegal immigration if he is to beat Nigel Farage during an extraordinary hour-long press conference on Monday. The two leaders held talks at the US president’s Turnberry golf course on the Scottish coast before flying together to Aberdeen. [Telegraph]

UK food inflation hits its highest level in 17 months: UK food inflation hit its highest level in 17 months, as retailers blamed the Labour government’s first budget for driving up costs. The British Retail Consortium said food bills climbed 4% in July compared with a year earlier, the fastest increase since February 2024. It helped to push overall shop prices up for a second straight month, with the 0.7% annual rise the largest in more than a year. [Bloomberg]
Reeves and Bailey clash over Revolut meeting: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey intervened to stop a meeting that chancellor Rachel Reeves tried to secure between financial watchdogs and Revolut, according to people familiar with the matter, in a new sign of friction over the way the City is regulated. [Financial Times]

Tens of thousands at risk of poverty despite Labour’s benefit U-turn: About 50,000 people who become disabled or chronically ill will be pushed into poverty by the end of the decade because of cuts to incapacity benefit, despite ministers dropping the bulk of its welfare reform plans, MPs have warned. The work and pensions select committee report welcomed ministers’ decision earlier this month to drop some of the most controversial aspects of its disability reforms in the face of a parliamentary revolt by over 100 Labour backbenchers. [Guardian]