Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today, Friday 19 September 2025.
- Trump urges Starmer to use military to stop the boats: US President Donald Trump has urged Sir Keir Starmer to consider calling in the military to stop small boat crossings. Trump also told the Prime Minister that he disagreed with his plans to recognise a Palestinian state and his ban on drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea. He said that he “did not know” Lord Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US who was sacked last week over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. [Telegraph]
- Reeves faces £18 billion shortfall if bet on productivity gains fails: Rachel Reeves will face a shortfall of up to £18bn in her spending plans by the end of the decade unless a risky bet on rapid gains in UK public service productivity comes good, a think-tank warned on Friday. The chancellor is expecting all government departments to make efficiency savings of at least 5 per cent in their budgets by 2028-29, including from improving the delivery of public services and cutting back office costs. [Financial Times]
- Taxpayers lose £400 million as a result of investment fund set up by Rishi Sunak: UK taxpayers have lost £400 million following the collapse of hundreds of startups backed by a heavily criticised Covid-era investment fund launched by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor. The Future Fund spent £1.14bn backing 1,190 companies, some of them of types not usually associated with government portfolios such as the sex party organiser Killing Kittens and the now defunct festival tickets business Pollen. [Guardian]
- Retailer Next warns of anaemic growth for the UK: Next has claimed the UK can expect ‘anaemic’ economic growth and declining job opportunities due to the current level of taxes and government spending commitments. The company said it did not believe the economy was “approaching a cliff edge” but the weakening forecast gave it “another reason to be cautious”. [BBC]
- On Friday, Oil was trading at $66.59. The pound is trading at $1.35, €1.15, and ¥9.63.
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