Business
Tories pledge to scrap business rates for shops and pubs
The Conservatives will abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election, the shadow chancellor has promised.
Sir Mel Stride made the commitment as he addressed the Conservative Party conference on Monday, saying the “burden of Labour’s tax rises” had been “simply too much to bear” for many businesses.
Pledging to “get business rates down”, he said: “I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high street.”
He added: “End of. Finished. Gone.”
Setting out what he called a “radical plan to rebuild our economy”, he pledged that the Tories would “always be there” for businesses.
Earlier in his speech, Sir Mel had set out plans to cut £47 billion from public spending by restricting welfare payments, shrinking the Civil Service, and slashing aid spending.
The proposals would see people with “less severe” mental health problems offered treatment rather than benefits, with Sir Mel saying this would help them to “a better life”.
He also said a future Conservative government would make savings by restricting benefits to UK citizens, although during media interviews on Monday morning he admitted that EU nationals with settled status would also be eligible for welfare.
But, apart from plans to scrap business rates and offer a £5,000 national insurance rebate for people getting their first full-time job, he played down the prospect of further swingeing tax cuts.
Arguing that rising national debt meant he could not “simply say we will use all of those savings to spend more elsewhere, or to cut taxes”, he promised to only cut taxes “when it is affordable”.
He added: “Because we know where the alternative path leads.
“We saw that with a mini budget in 2022, so let me be clear: the Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for.”
Getty ImagesThe publisher of the Daily Mail has agreed to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500m.
The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said it had entered a period of discussion with RedBird IMI, which is a joint venture between the United Arab Emirates and the US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.
RedBird Capital’s own bid for control of the Telegraph collapsed last week.
The deal needs to be signed off by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. A spokesperson said Nandy would “review any new buyer acquiring the Telegraph in line with the public interest and foreign state influence media mergers regimes”.
DMGT and RedBird IMI have said they expect the deal to be finalised “quickly”.
DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere said he had “long admired the Daily Telegraph” and the deal would give “much-needed certainty and confidence” to its employees.
He said: “The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s largest and best quality broadsheet newspaper and I have grown up respecting it. It has a remarkable history and has played a vital role in shaping Britain’s national debate over many decades.”
He added: “Chris Evans is an excellent editor and we intend to give him the resources to invest in the newsroom. Under our ownership, the Daily Telegraph will become a global brand, just as the Daily Mail has.”
The purchase would see the Telegraph become part of DMGT’s portfolio of media organisations, which includes the i Paper, Metro and New Scientist, along with the Daily and Sunday Mail papers.
The group said the Telegraph would remain editorially independent from DMGT’s other titles.
It also said its case for having the deal approved was “compelling” and would comply with UK regulations, as there would be no foreign state investment or capital in the funding structure.
A spokesman for RedBird IMI said: “DMGT and RedBird IMI have worked swiftly to reach the agreement announced today, which will shortly be submitted to the secretary of state.”
RedBird Capital pulled out of a deal to buy the Telegraph last week.
It had a previous attempt to buy the group rebuffed by politicians as it was majority-funded by Abu Dhabi’s IMI group – which is owned in turn by the Abu Dhabi royal family.
A law change meant that foreign sovereign wealth funds could take a maximum stake of 15% in newspapers or periodicals.
Its more recent bid complied with that rule, but it was understood that the government intended to submit the deal to regulatory review.
Sources close to RedBird insisted that they were confident that the bid would have passed a government review process, but cited negative articles toward the bid from the current Telegraph newsroom as a factor in shelving their interest.
RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale had planned to expand the Telegraph’s reach and subscriber base in the US, believing there to be a gap in the market.
Among other investments, RedBird owns the Italian football team AC Milan.
The Telegraph has been in limbo for over two years, when the RedBird IMI consortium paid off the debts of the Telegraph’s previous owners, the Barclay family, hoping to take eventual ownership of the newspapers.
The federal government has lifted the ban on the import and export of gold, officials confirmed on Saturday. The Ministry of Commerce issued the order following approval from the federal cabinet.
In addition, the government has introduced some amendments related to the trade of precious metals and jewellery, while maintaining the existing framework for their import and export.
The ban on gold trade was initially imposed on May 6, 2025, after complaints of smuggling surfaced.
The ministry had suspended the SRO regulating gold trade for 60 days. However, no new cases of smuggling have been reported in recent months.
Gold continues to serve as a traditional store of value and remains an important part of Pakistan’s cultural, financial, and manufacturing sectors.
Pakistan predominantly imports gold from the UAE, Switzerland, and other major gold-trading hubs.
Business
Trade outlook: India’s exports hold steady amid Donald Trump tariffs; new markets offset US slowdown – The Times of India
India’s export performance has remained steady even as global markets face volatility, according to SBI Research, which shared its assessment. As per news agency ANI, the report states that merchandise exports between April and September in FY26 touched $220 billion, a 2.9 per cent rise from $214 billion in the same period last year. Exports to the United States also increased by 13 per cent to $45 billion, although shipments in September dipped nearly 12 per cent year-on-year.The US continues to be a key market, but its share in India’s total exports has fallen since July 2025, reaching 15 per cent in September. SBI Research highlights mixed sectoral trends. The US share in India’s marine product exports declined from 20 per cent in FY25 to 15 per cent in September, and its share in precious stones fell sharply from 37 per cent to 6 per cent. However, both marine products and ready-made cotton garments still registered growth during the April–September period.At the same time, as per ANI, India’s export basket has become more geographically diverse. Countries including the UAE, China, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nigeria saw higher shares across several product groups. SBI Research suggests that some of this may indicate indirect routing of Indian goods, noting that Australia’s share in US imports of precious stones rose from 2 per cent to 9 per cent, while Hong Kong’s share increased from 1 per cent to 2 per cent.On the trade policy front, India is grappling with higher US tariffs under the Trump administration, which have hit textiles, jewellery and seafood — particularly shrimp. To support exporters, the government has approved Rs 45,060 crore in assistance, including Rs 20,000 crore in credit guarantees.The rupee also faced pressure, slipping to 89.49 against the dollar on Friday amid global financial turbulence. According to ANI, the Reserve Bank of India reiterated that it does not defend any fixed exchange rate, and analysts see the decline as a temporary adjustment.India’s current account deficit narrowed to 0.2 per cent of GDP in Q1 FY26, improving from 0.9 per cent a year earlier, supported by services exports and remittances. SBI Research expects the deficit to widen slightly in the next two quarters before turning positive by fiscal year-end, projecting a full-year deficit of 1.0–1.3 per cent of GDP and a balance-of-payments gap of up to $10 billion.
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