Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves declined to reiterate Labour’s manifesto commitment against broad-based tax hikes, as she made an unusual appeal to the British public to support her upcoming budget.

In a rare pre-budget speech in Downing Street carried on national broadcasters, Reeves argued she would prioritize bringing down borrowing costs and inflation, and blamed the previous Conservative administration for putting lasting pressure on the public finances.

In the clearest hint yet that the Labour government will compromise on its commitment to avoid lifting the UK’s main tax levers, Reeves said the world had changed since it came to power in July 2024.

In this special episode of the Bloomberg Daybreak Europe Podcast, Stephen Carroll and Caroline Hepker discuss with UK Correspondent Lizzy Burden, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth, and our Chief UK economist Dan Hanson.

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) The current environment for large mergers and acquisitions is quite “constructive” for 2026 and 2027, particularly in the US, according to the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs

(2) The global stock rally hit a speed bump as uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook and earnings from Palantir Technologies Inc. made investors more cautious.

(3) Alphabet sold $17.5 billion of bonds in the US, after issuing €6.5 billion ($7.48 billion) of notes in Europe, adding to a wave of borrowing from technology companies as they invest aggressively in artificial intelligence.

(4) Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that his government will make “tough but fair decisions” in what’s expected to be a tax-raising budget later this month.

(5) Zohran Mamdani’s lead heading into the New York mayoral election has withstood a furious push from Republicans, establishment Democrats and a coalition of Wall Street dealmakers, leaving Democrats to face a familiar question should he win on Tuesday.

Podcast Conversation: Men’s Groups (Not ‘Boys Clubs’) Quietly Emerge in Big Business

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) Oil advanced a fourth day after OPEC+ said it planned to pause output increases in the first quarter of 2026, following another modest hike for next month.

(2) A railway staff member who "saved many people's lives" while protecting train passengers from a knifeman is in a life-threatening condition in hospital.

(3) An exit charge for wealthy Britons leaving the country and increased levies on expensive homes are on a long-list of possible tax increases being considered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves ahead of the budget.

(4) President Donald Trump threatened possible US military action against Islamist militants in Nigeria if the country’s government doesn’t halt the groups’ “killing of Christians.”

(5) China will effectively suspend implementation of additional export controls on rare-earth metals and terminate investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced.

Podcast Conversation: 'The Great British Bake Off' Is a Great British Betting Zone

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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week

• In the US – a look at how earnings are impacting global markets
• In the UK – we preview the Bank of England rate decision
• In Asia – looking ahead to the RBA Decision and Chinese economic data

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On today's podcast:

(1) Apple blamed a surprise decline in China revenue on supply disruptions, predicting it will return to growth in the world’s biggest smartphone arena as the iPhone 17 gains momentum.

(2) Amazon’s cloud unit posted the strongest growth rate in almost three years, reassuring investors who were concerned that the largest seller of rented computing power was losing ground to rivals.

(3) Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned against “breaking supply chains,” in his first public remarks after a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump that secured a one-year truce in the world’s biggest trade fight.

(4) King Charles III on Thursday stripped his disgraced brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Buckingham Palace said.

(5) In more than one way, Rob Jetten, the head of the liberal D66 party who might become the next Dutch prime minister, offers a stark contrast to Geert Wilders, the divisive anti-migrant lawmaker who heads the far-right Freedom Party.

(6) Shares of the world’s top listed beer, wine and spirits makers have shed a combined $830 billion in a little more than four years as the industry grapples with monumental change.

Russia’s tactics and hardware in Ukraine, its growing cooperation with China in the Bering Strait, shifts in activity off Norway, and the persistent challenge of the shadow fleet all reinforce his concerns of a looming threat that Denmark and its allies must prepare to confront.

Podcast Conversation: Don't Have a Cow Over the Steak Economy

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On today's podcast:

(1) Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up their highly-anticipated summit after around an hour and a half on Thursday, concluding talks they hoped would quell an expansive trade fight that has shaken global markets.

(2) The largest technology companies are betting on an AI future powered by gigantic complexes of data centers filled with humming servers.

(3) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned investors against assuming the US central bank would follow its second straight interest-rate cut with another in December.

(4) Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to rule out raising income tax, national insurance or value added tax at the upcoming budget, suggesting the government may break its pre-election promises in order to fill a growing hole in the public finances.

Dutch Election: The progressive Democrats 66 party was on track to win the Dutch parliamentary election after voters dealt a blow to Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party and threw support behind mainstream political groups.

Podcast Conversation: Starbucks Drinkers Are Exiting Fast, Not Lingering Over Coffee

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On today's podcast:

(1) Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang announced a flurry of new partnerships and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble, saying the company’s latest chips are on track to generate half a trillion dollars in revenue.

(2) Donald Trump said he expects to lower tariffs the US has imposed on Chinese goods over the fentanyl crisis and speak with China’s Xi Jinping about Nvidia Corp.’s flagship Blackwell artificial intelligence chip, as leaders of the world’s biggest economies seek to ease tensions in a meeting on Thursday.

(3) UBS Group profit beat expectations in the third quarter as investment banking revenue and lower-than-forecast legal costs boosted performance.

(4) Deutsche Bank AG exceeded analyst estimates for fixed-income trading, and Banco Santander posted third-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates in its sixth consecutive quarterly record.

(5) Hurricane Melissa is expected to make landfall in Cuba just hours after it became the strongest recorded storm to strike Jamaica, where it left hundreds of thousands without power and forced hospitals to evacuate.

(6) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “forceful strikes” against Hamas in response to attacks on Israeli soldiers in Gaza, jeopardizing a US-brokered ceasefire that’s held for just over two weeks.

High Frequency Trading Triggers a Showdown Over a London Rooftop: For years, a drab building located just one mile past the skyscrapers of London’s Canary Wharf neighborhood has been the site of one of the fiercest battles in the world of high-frequency trading.

Podcast Conversation: Bone-In Fried Chicken Is Making KFC ‘Irrelevant’ and ‘Invisible’

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) HSBC raised its profitability outlook for 2025 even as earnings slid following an unexpected $1.1 billion provision tied to Bernard Madoff’s giant fraud case more than a decade ago.

(2) BNP Paribas’s trading unit suffered a hit from souring debt in the third quarter, adding to challenges for Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe after a string of recent setbacks.

(3) Goldman Sachs Group Chief Executive Officer David Solomon downplayed concerns that have surfaced following the collapse of US firms First Brands Group and Tricolor Holdings, and said he doesn’t see any systemic risk looming in the credit market.

(4) Amazon.com plans to cut corporate jobs in several key departments, including logistics, payments, video games and the cloud-computing unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

(5) Tom Hayes, the former star UBS Group AG trader who became the face of the Libor rigging scandal, sued his former employer accusing it of handing him over on a “silver platter” to global prosecutors in order to protect the bank and its senior leadership.

(6) President Donald Trump hailed the US’s alliance with Japan, reaffirming ties with a longstanding partner and praising new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her plans to ratchet up defense spending as the pair met in Tokyo.

(7) France’s National Assembly adopted an amendment on Monday that would increase taxes on the country’s largest companies next year, part of the government’s effort to rein in the deficit and find compromises with opposition lawmakers.

Europe's Solar Boom: In 2020, Europe installed 23 gigawatts of solar, according to BloombergNEF data. Each year since then a new record has been set, with some 69.2 gigawatts expected to be added this year, capping a more than quadrupling of capacity in the last decade.

Podcast Conversation: London’s Black Cabs Face a Driverless Threat

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