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Former Liverpool footballer and Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson has lost his IR35 appeal, resulting in a £300,000 tax bill after being deemed a "disguised employee" of Sky Sports. The ruling highlights the increasing scrutiny of freelancers and contractors by HMRC, particularly those in high-profile media roles.

The pound has surged to a four-month high against the US dollar as concerns over Donald Trump's escalating trade war spark fears of an American recession. Meanwhile, global investors are shifting away from US assets in record numbers, with the mass exodus from US equities being the largest on record.

UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is embarking on a crucial mission to Washington, D.C., where he will engage in high-stakes trade negotiations with the Trump administration. His primary objective is to secure exemptions for British steel from the recently imposed tariffs, which threaten to inflict significant damage on the UK's steel industry.

British steelmakers, Tata Steel and British Steel, warn that Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the US are causing a decline in business and could lead to a surge of cheap imports, further squeezing profitability. They urge the UK government to take swift action to protect the industry from the potential diversion of steel originally bound for the US.

AstraZeneca abandoned a £450 million vaccine site expansion in northwest England due to missed government funding deadlines, raising concerns about the UK's attractiveness for pharmaceutical investment. The company cited the missed August deadline for a £90 million grant as the reason for the project's collapse, despite a later offer of £75 million.