UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has delivered her Spring Statement, and Bloomberg Chief UK Economist Dan Hanson and senior reporter Phil Aldrick join host Allegra Stratton to share their assessment. Aldrick posits that it wasn't "quite the horror show that some people were fearing" because restoring Britain's fiscal headroom didn't require severe public service and welfare cuts. But Hanson notes that even so, she's left herself little room to manoeuvre for the unexpected.

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Eight months after Labour’s landslide victory, Bloomberg examines if the UK government is on track to meet key election pledges. Senior reporter Phil Aldrick and Bloomberg Economics chief UK economist Dan Hanson join hosts Francine Lacqua and Allegra Stratton. 

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In this week’s episode of In the City, we explore whether more European businesses will decouple from American companies and Wall Street. Bloomberg deals correspondent Dinesh Nair describes the Trump-induced separation as yet another “unprecedented” rupture initiated by the Republican president. But it could be good news for Europe in the long run, being the spark needed the unify and galvanize European leaders into securing their own defense industries and economies.

“I’m not sure if he’s making America great again,” Nair says of Trump. “But he’s definitely trying to make Europe great again.” 

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Leaders across European capitals are scrambling to work out what the withdrawal of US military aid means for Ukraine and Europe’s security as a whole. Led by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a “coalition of the willing” has been formed to support Ukraine both financially and militarily. But will it be enough?

To help us answer that question, host Allegra Stratton is joined by Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative member of Parliament who previously served as security minister. He says the return of Donald Trump to the White House and his actions to distance America from Ukraine and Europe is a “9-11 moment—one of those moments where you have to rethink the fundamentals.” 

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Hosts Francine Lacqua and Allegra Stratton speak with Damian Shepherd, the reporter looking into allegations of misconduct at London real estate agency, Foxtons. 

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Skipton Group CEO Stuart Haire joins host Dave Merritt to explain where British homebuyers can get the most for their money and to discuss the latest data from Skipton’s Home Affordability Index. They also discuss the UK’s wider affordability problem for first-time buyers. 

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Last weekend, Bloomberg revealed that activist investor Elliott Investment Management had built a large stake in BP Plc. BP shares climbed as the news broke, perhaps attributable to the fact that Elliott has a track record of driving significant change within companies. Investors may also see this as a timely intervention, given BP’s performance has slumped over the past few years, relative to its competitors. 

On this week’s In The City, hosts Francine Lacqua and Allegra Stratton sit down with Bloomberg’s Aaron Kirchfeld to discuss the potential geopolitical ramifications of Elliott’s move, why BP’s poor performance over the last few years made a takeover more likely and how the shift away from net-zero, despite the accelerating climate crisis, has facilitated such a move. 

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Francine Lacqua sits down with Dan Hanson, chief UK economist at Bloomberg Economics, to discuss how tariffs on the EU would complicate its relationship with the UK, and how the UK is bracing for tit-for-tat tariff policies. 

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Bloomberg Opinion columnist Parmy Olson joins Francine Lacqua and Allegra Stratton to explain what DeepSeek’s surprise innovation means for the UK and everyone else. 

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On the sidelines of the conference, Dave Merritt sat down with Thierry Mallaret. Thierry is an economist who has worked as an adviser for major investment banks and governments. He also founded and headed the Global Risk Network at WEF and for a number of years in succession, he conceived and put in place the program for the annual Davos meeting. 

He'a also the author of Deaths at Davos, and now Deaths at Davos 2.0, dark satires of what's really going in within the WEF. They discuss how the drama of those novels are grounded in the reality of what happens at the annual conference, and why the World Economic Forum's focus has had to change to stay relevant. 

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