Some of Britain’s leading economists have urged Andy Burnham to tear up the UK’s tax system, calling for stamp duty and council tax to be scrapped and replaced with a single annual property value tax.

The group, which includes Lord O’Neill of Gatley, the former Goldman Sachs chief economist who advises Burnham, has written an open letter to the man widely expected to become the next prime minister, warning that structural reform can no longer be delayed.

Their intervention endorses Prosperity 2030, a five-year programme from University College London’s Institute for Global Prosperity launching on Thursday, which the signatories say “models how fiscal, welfare, and infrastructure policies can unlock the gridlock that plagues the country”.

Burnham is on course to enter Downing Street on 20 July if he wins the Labour leadership, inheriting an economy weighed down by high debt and stubbornly low growth. Westminster and the City are watching his fiscal plans, and his choice of chancellor, particularly closely after his Manchester speech last week calling for greater devolution. As Business Matters has reported, Burnham has already signalled “room for movement” on tax, pledging a business rates cut for pubs and high street firms.

The centrepiece of the report is a single national contributions levy that would replace six separate taxes: income tax, employee and self-employed national insurance, dividend tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax. The levy would run from 0 per cent to a 22 per cent base rate, with a 46 per cent top rate applied to a “flat definition” of income, raising an estimated £75 billion after five years.

That “simpler, more efficient system” would fund nine new universal services, transforming the welfare state by delivering support in kind rather than in cash.

On property, the plan would abolish stamp duty and council tax in favour of a 1 per cent annual property value tax, ending what the report calls “the absurdity of a modest terrace paying proportionally more than a high-value mansion”. A deferral option would ensure “no one is forced to sell to pay it”. The idea echoes proposals already circulating in the Treasury for an annual charge to replace stamp duty, and chimes with the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which has long argued the case for the abolition of stamp duty as one of Britain’s most economically damaging taxes.

A new property levy is unlikely to pass without a fight, however. Sir James Cleverly, the shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, has already branded it a “garden tax … straight out of the Corbyn playbook”. Nor is it the first Burnham-linked tax idea to unsettle boardrooms: the debate over what a Burnham wealth tax could mean for UK business and investors is still fresh.

Andrew Percy, co-chairman of the social prosperity network at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity and the report’s lead author, said it was a “plan to cut taxes for working people, abolish the taxes holding back the housing market, and get young people into paid work. The question is no longer whether Britain can afford reform. It is whether we can afford another decade without it.”

Alongside Lord O’Neill, the letter’s signatories include Professor Dame Henrietta Moore, founder and director of the institute, Professor Jonathan Portes of King’s College London, Professor John Muellbauer of Nuffield College, Oxford, and Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation.

Their verdict on Westminster’s recent record is blunt: “Seven prime ministers in ten years have inherited the same challenge and failed to solve it for the same reasons: the problems are structural and systemic.”

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

The auction will take place between 9:30 am and 10:00 am on Wednesday, and the funds will be reversed on July 9, according to the RBI’s notification.

“On a review of current and evolving liquidity conditions, it has been decided to conduct a Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction on Wednesday, July 8,” the RBI said in a release.

Currently, liquidity in the banking system is estimated to be in surplus of around Rs 1.19 lakh crore as of July 6, according to the RBI’s data.

On July 7, the central bank received a muted response on the overnight VRR auction, with just Rs 1,135 crore worth of bids for a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore. Experts attributed this to the comfortable surplus liquidity in the banking system.

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The central bank accepted the entire amount at a cut-off and weighted average rate of 5.26 per cent, according to the release.
The central bank had infused more than Rs 6 lakh crore of transient liquidity to the banking system through various VRR auctions ranging between overnight and seven days since June.

Some locals object to plan, with one saying it could ‘de-value many of the existing flats’

Plans for swanky apartments within eyesight of Strangeways prison are set to be approved this week – but the scheme has already caused a stir among local residents.

The development would create 251 ‘high-quality’ homes in a part-24-storey building. The homes would be for private sale, with none at ‘affordable’ prices below market rates. A report submitted with the plans confirmed the scheme ‘can’t support affordable housing‘.

But 15 objections have been submitted about the proposals, claiming construction would ‘create bottlenecks and congestion’ on the roads, and would ‘block views and create a sense of enclosure’ in the area.

One objector said: “This is going to ruin the stunning view, ruin the area and de-value many of the existing flats.

“Will there be any compensation, financial or otherwise, for the negative impacts on neighbouring apartments and subsequent their loss of value?”

If approved, there would be four two-bed townhouses in the development, alongside 82 one-bed apartments, and 165 two-beds in the scheme overall.

It would be ‘car free’, designed to encourage potential future residents to use public transport or active travel options to get around instead.

There are plenty of public transport options nearby, including Victoria train station which is about a 15-minute walk away and also offers access to trams.

The new building by Linear Living would be based on the corner of Lord Street and Cheetham Hill Road, just minutes away from the Victorian prison that dominates the neighbourhood.

Land earmarked for the development is currently empty and surrounded by hoardings. It sits on the edge of Greengate, a part of Manchester which has been transformed into a popular place for city-centre living.

Councillors in Manchester are meeting to make a decision on the plans on Thursday, with a recommendation of approval.

Meanwhile, separate regeneration projects are about to change the face of Strangeways forever, with thousands of new homes coming spread across seven new neighbourhoods.

How the future of Strangeways prison fits into the plans remains to be agreed, but council bosses in Manchester are pushing for a long-term plan to relocate it to another area. It comes as the boundaries of Manchester city centre are expanding outwards after a decade of growth.

In May, it was reported that ‘promising conversations’ are taking place with the government about relocating the prison. It is believed that it’s likely the new location would be outside Greater Manchester.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

The innovation centre at Frenchay campus is marking its 10th anniversary

A university start-up hub has created nearly 1,000 jobs and contributed £56m to the economy since it was established a decade ago, those behind the initiative have said.

Future Space, the University of the West of England’s (UWE Bristol) innovation centre, was founded in 2016 as part of the Government’s University Enterprise Zone programme. The hub is based at Frenchay campus and offers workspace, university research facilities and business support to start-up and high-growth companies.

Since its founding, Future Space has generated more than £136m in investment and grants, according UWE, and assisted 178 businesses – from robotics to AI to biotech firms – to launch some 588 products.

The centre is managed in partnership with Oxford Innovation Space.

Professor Matt Freeman, centre director of Future Space, said: “Over the last decade, Future Space has become a place where businesses, researchers and student talent stop operating in separate worlds and start innovating together.

“Our impact figures tell a story of hundreds of new products and innovations, almost a thousand jobs, over £136m of investment secured, and thousands of moments where researchers, students, founders and partners have come together to turn ideas into real-world impact.”

The companies Future Space has supported include Albotherm, which offers temperature-responsive greenhouse coatings to support sustainable farming, and cell and gene therapy business eXmoor Pharma.

Another is SAH Diagnostics, which delivers specialist cancer diagnostic services to 34 NHS trusts and hospitals across the UK.

After three years at Future Space developing the world’s first mobile urology unit, SAH Diagnostics has recently opened a new cancer diagnostic centre in Bradley Stoke.

The company has supported the treatment of more than 400,000 patients to date, partnering with UWE Bristol to develop community outreach programmes and working towards an accredited training and education programme.

Tracey John, director of research and external engagement at UWE Bristol, said: “Future Space demonstrates the vital role universities can play in driving innovation, supporting business growth and creating opportunities for people and communities.

“As we celebrate this milestone, we are also celebrating Bristol’s strength as a city of innovation – one that continues to show how partnerships between universities and businesses can help address some of society’s biggest challenges while creating sustainable economic growth.”

In the last year, over 400 UWE Bristol students have engaged with businesses based at Future Space through student projects, funded internships and part-time roles, according to the university.

Jo Stevens, managing director at Oxford Innovation Space, added: “At Oxford Innovation Space, we believe that when innovative businesses are given the right environment to grow, they create jobs, attract investment and strengthen local economies.

“Future Space is a fantastic example of this in action. Over the past 10 years, it has become a catalyst for innovation-led growth in the West of England, helping ambitious founders turn ideas into successful businesses and delivering significant economic impact for the region.”

Fellow Investors,

For most of the second quarter, the markets were driven by news concerning the Iran War. Major combat operations began on February 28^th and mostly ended after the April 8^th cease-fire agreement. The war mattered to markets because the Iranians closed the Strait of Hormuz, reducing global crude oil flows by about 20% of global daily consumption and significantly reducing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertilizer flows as well. Oil prices peaked at $113 per barrel on April 7^th and have declined erratically since then, hitting a low of $70 on June 24^th. On June 17^th, the Strait of Hormuz was partially reopened after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, and oil slowly began to flow out of the area once again. This was critical, as many countries had been drawing down oil reserves to keep their economies running. Their ability to do this was finite, and there were some real concerns that a true oil shortage would develop when their reserves were depleted, sending prices much higher and slowing economic activity sharply. While those fears have not completely disappeared, such a dire outcome is far less likely now.

While the conflict with Iran is not resolved, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz has allowed Wall Street to think about other things: a new Federal Reserve Chairman (Kevin Warsh) and the massive IPO of SpaceX.

Mr. Warsh became the Fed Chair on May 22^nd and appears intent on reforming the Federal Reserve. He started his reforms by doing away with forward guidance and creating five advisory committees to study communications, the balance sheet, inflation frameworks, data sources, and productivity/jobs. These committees are expected to wrap up their work by the end of 2026, so it won’t be long before we find out what they recommend. At its May meeting, the Fed kept the Federal Funds Rate target unchanged at 3.50% – 3.75%. Mr. Warsh emphasized price stability in his remarks, and prediction markets took those comments as a sign that rate hikes were more likely in the near future, not the expected rate cuts. We’ll see.

As regards the SpaceX IPO, I am struck by the high valuation given to the company: 55 times this year’s estimated sales (the company is not yet profitable, so Price/Earnings is meaningless). As a rule of thumb, I generally consider 10 times sales to be expensive – SpaceX is far beyond that. CEO Musk has set himself some very ambitious goals including deploying orbital data centers and putting a million people on Mars – if he can do the improbable, perhaps his company is worth its current price. Again, we’ll see.

On to more mundane concerns.

The U.S. economy appears to be doing fine. The U-3 Unemployment Rate was 4.3% on May 31^st, about where it has been since May 2025. 1^st Quarter real GDP growth was reported to be 2.1% on March 31^st and the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow estimate for the second quarter is 2.5% as of June 25^th, 2026. Inflation has increased throughout the year with the Consumer Price Index indicating 4.2% year-over-year inflation on May 31^st, 2026. The high inflation number probably prompted Warsh’s repeated emphasis on price stability as a Federal Reserve goal. Interest rates in general bottomed in early March and have been rising erratically ever since. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was 3.94% on March 1^st, rising to 4.38% on June 25^th. Similarly, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.1% on March 1^st and hit 6.57% on June 25^th.

The S&P 500 has bounced nicely from the late March low and is now up roughly 7% year to date. Semiconductor stocks have led the move higher as massive investments by artificial intelligence developers and cloud service providers accelerated chip makers’ revenue and earnings growth.

As I did last quarter, let’s review our standing questions. The questions are listed below in italics, with our updates in bold letters.

• – When will the AI boom end? The answer still eludes me. My number one concern is that the AI boom will turn to bust, and the stock market will do a re-enactment of 2000 – 2002. I have been actively reducing exposure to companies benefitting from AI investments for the last 18 months. I may have acted too soon, and our investments may underperform for a time if the AI boom continues.
• – When will the contraction in manufacturing end? 1^st quarter 2026. This question will be dropped going forward.
• – Will the tailwinds for gold continue? The price of gold has dropped about 25% from its January peak and is down 6% year to date. The stronger dollar has been a headwind, but the structural tailwinds (central bank buying, gold backed crypto currency buying, profligate government spending) are still in place. Our gold related holdings change little during the Quarter.
• – Will the tariff and regulatory upheaval we saw in ’25 settle down, allowing CEOs to start making long-term decisions again? This is not yet clear. In conversations with CEOs tariffs rarely come up any more and regulatory change is more often beneficial than not. Long term, I think regulatory reform is a significant positive change for the U.S. economy.
• – What will inflation do this year? So far it has mostly gone up, it is not clear how much was due to oil prices and how much is due to other factors. Also unclear is the ability or willingness of the Fed to raise interest rates and thereby increase borrowing costs for the government.
• – How long will the Iran war last? 45 Days. How high will oil prices go? $110 per barrel. I don’t think the U.S. will resume major combat operations. This question will also be dropped unless I am wrong and major combat operations resume.

The accounts Muhlenkamp and Company manages remain up by high-single-digit percent year to date. I’ve taken profits on some successful investments in the Quarter and sold our international and Chinese investments. The Chinese holdings were not meeting my expectations, so I sold them. The international exchange-traded fund we owned was heavily exposed to Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers and did better than I expected. I sold it because I think those chipmakers are now overpriced. I’m not in a hurry to put our cash to work but will happily do so when I find lucrative opportunities.

I hope that you and your family enjoyed our nation’s 250^th birthday and didn’t get overcooked! As always, please contact us if you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you!

Jeff Muhlenkamp, Portfolio Manager

Muhlenkamp and Company, Inc.

Original Post

Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.

LONDON — Coco Gauff advanced to her first career Wimbledon semifinal on Tuesday, rallying from a set down to defeat fellow American Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an all-USA quarterfinal that pitted the tournament’s two highest-seeded women’s players against each other on Centre Court.

The No. 7-seeded Gauff overcame an early setback, dropping the first set to the No. 4-seeded Pegula before regrouping to take control of the match over the final two sets. The turning point of the second set came when Pegula, serving at 3-4, double-faulted at 0-40, handing Gauff a 5-3 lead she would not relinquish. Gauff then sealed the set with a 117 mph ace, leveling the match at one set apiece.

The decisive third set featured several momentum swings before Gauff ultimately pulled away. She broke Pegula with a low passing-shot winner to take a 2-1 lead, only for Pegula to break back immediately when Gauff netted a forehand on break point, tying the set at three games apiece. Gauff responded right away, breaking Pegula at love for a 4-3 lead after Pegula netted a forehand off a deep service return. With Pegula serving to stay in the match at 3-5, 30-40, she dumped a backhand into the net, sending Gauff into a celebration on court as she completed the win.

Gauff finished the match a perfect 4-for-4 on break-point conversions and served at 76 percent in the decisive third set, controlling the tempo from the baseline throughout the closing stages of the match. Speaking on court immediately after the win, Gauff reflected on the significance of the result given her earlier struggles on grass. “Honestly, pretty insane,” Gauff said. “Considering I hadn’t won a match on grass in 2 years before this tournament. I’m definitely just really happy with how I played today. Jess is an incredible opponent and person, playing against her is never easy. I’m just happy to get through this one today.”

Tuesday’s meeting marked a historic occasion for American tennis. According to ESPN, Gauff and Pegula were the first pair of American women’s top-10 seeds to meet at Wimbledon since Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in the 2009 final. The matchup also carried personal significance for both players, given their history as former doubles partners, including during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the pair won gold together before splitting to focus on their individual singles careers.

With the win, Gauff, 22, became the highest remaining seed in the women’s singles draw and is now guaranteed to reach at least the final, given the depth of the remaining field. She is set to face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal between No. 14 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia in the semifinals. ESPN broadcaster Mary Joe Fernandez offered high praise for Gauff’s game following the match, suggesting she could be the player to beat for the remainder of the tournament. “I like the winner of this match going all the way,” Fernandez said on air. “The way that Coco moves, the way that she can attack the net, she’s going to be really hard to beat.”

For Pegula, 32, the loss extends a career pattern in which she has consistently reached the latter stages of Grand Slam tournaments without ever winning one. She has now reached 10 career Grand Slam quarterfinals but has never advanced past the quarterfinal round at Wimbledon specifically, and she remains in search of her first major singles title. Pegula, the daughter of billionaire Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, had entered this year’s tournament having reached the semifinals of the Aussie Open earlier this season, adding to a résumé that already includes a runner-up finish at the 2024 U.S. Open, her best Grand Slam result to date.

Tuesday’s result carries significant financial implications for both players as well. According to prize money figures cited by Forbes, Gauff’s semifinal appearance earns her approximately $1.24 million, while the tournament’s eventual champion will take home close to $5 million, with the runner-up receiving approximately $2.48 million.

Gauff’s path to her first Wimbledon semifinal has been defined by resilience throughout the tournament. Her win over Pegula marked her third three-set victory of this year’s Championships, following an earlier comeback in the second round that included a tense 10-point tiebreak against Solana Sierra. Prior to this tournament, Gauff had never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club, making Wimbledon the last of the four Grand Slam events where she had yet to reach the quarterfinal stage before this year’s breakthrough run. She previously won the 2023 U.S. Open and the 2025 French Open, giving her two major titles heading into this week’s semifinal, but neither had come on grass, a surface that had proven consistently difficult for her in previous years.

Gauff’s semifinal opponent will be determined Thursday when Osaka and Muchova meet in a rematch of their recent Bad Homburg final. Osaka reached the quarterfinals after delivering one of the standout performances of the tournament, upsetting top-seeded and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets, a result that reshaped the entire women’s draw following the earlier eliminations of defending champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina.

With Tuesday’s win, Gauff has ensured that an American will reach the Wimbledon final for the first time since the 2009 all-Williams-sisters final, a milestone that adds further significance to a tournament that has already produced a string of notable upsets throughout its women’s draw. As she prepares for Thursday’s semifinal, Gauff will look to build on what she described as a career-best performance on grass, a surface she has now shown she can navigate at the highest level of the sport after years of comparative struggle on the fastest of tennis’s four Grand Slam surfaces.

Netflix shares rose Tuesday, trading at $77.33, up $1.31, or 1.72 percent, offering a modest bounce for a stock that has fallen sharply this year and remains not far from levels last seen before 2025, even as the company prepares to report second-quarter earnings later this month.

Note: This article is intended to provide factual context and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.

Tuesday’s gain comes after a difficult stretch for Netflix stock, which closed at $76.05 on Monday following a 2.06 percent decline, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock is down roughly 21 percent so far in 2026 and has fallen approximately 42 percent from its high last summer, according to a Motley Fool analysis published this week, marking one of the steepest pullbacks among major media and technology companies over the past year.

Much of Netflix’s volatility this year traces back to a high-profile, ultimately abandoned effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming operations. Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery had entered into a definitive agreement valuing the media company at $27.75 per share, structured as a combination of cash and Netflix stock and later amended to an all-cash transaction, with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion. The deal was designed to combine Warner Bros.’ extensive film and television library, including HBO and HBO Max, with Netflix’s global streaming platform.

That agreement unraveled in February after rival bidder Paramount Skydance sweetened its own offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to $30 per share in cash, a bid Warner Bros. Discovery’s board determined constituted a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of its existing agreement with Netflix. Faced with the choice of matching Paramount’s higher offer, Netflix opted to walk away. In a joint statement, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the transaction the company had negotiated “would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” but added that “at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive.” The two thanked Warner Bros. Discovery’s leadership, including chief executive David Zaslav, for what they described as “a fair and rigorous process.”

Netflix shares initially rallied on the news, rising nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading immediately following the announcement, as investors welcomed the company’s decision to avoid what some analysts had characterized as an increasingly expensive and complex transaction. According to the Motley Fool, Netflix received a $2.8 billion termination fee as part of the collapsed deal, funds the company has said contributed to its cash position alongside organic free cash flow generation of approximately $2.3 billion in the most recent quarter. Netflix management has projected full-year free cash flow of $12.5 billion for 2026, including the termination fee payment.

Despite that initial positive reaction, Netflix shares have since given back those gains and more, falling to levels not seen since before 2025, according to the Motley Fool’s analysis. The stock’s decline has coincided with a broader deceleration in the company’s projected revenue growth for 2026, a trend that has weighed on investor sentiment even as the company’s underlying cash generation has remained strong.

Netflix’s current stock price reflects the aftermath of a significant corporate action completed late last year. On October 30, 2025, the company announced a 10-for-1 forward stock split, which took effect on a post-split basis on November 17, 2025, reducing the per-share price from roughly $1,100 to approximately $110 at the time. The move was intended to make Netflix shares more accessible to retail investors and employees, though it did not change the company’s underlying market capitalization or intrinsic value. Since the split, Netflix shares have declined further amid the Warner Bros. Discovery saga and broader market volatility, falling well below the roughly $110 level at which the stock began trading on a split-adjusted basis.

Wall Street analysts remain divided on Netflix’s near-term trajectory following the stock’s decline. According to the Motley Fool, the median analyst price target of $115 per share implies significant potential upside from current trading levels, with some individual forecasts reaching as high as $138 to $150 per share, reflecting continued optimism about Netflix’s advertising business and subscriber growth potential. Netflix’s advertising tier revenue grew 150 percent to $1.5 billion in 2025, according to company disclosures, with management projecting that business to roughly double again in 2026.

Netflix is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 financial results on July 16, an event analysts say will provide important clarity on the company’s growth trajectory following the collapsed Warner Bros. Discovery deal. Wall Street currently projects second-quarter earnings per share of $0.79 and revenue of approximately $12.57 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. The upcoming report comes as Netflix continues to face heightened scrutiny over its growth outlook, with investors weighing the company’s strong free cash flow generation and advertising momentum against a broader deceleration in projected revenue growth for the year.

Beyond the financial and corporate developments, Netflix has continued to lean on its content pipeline to drive subscriber engagement. The company has announced plans for a sequel to its animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” along with a new animated entry set in the “Stranger Things” universe, part of a broader strategy the company has said is central to attracting and retaining subscribers amid intensifying competition from rivals including Disney+ and Amazon.

With Netflix shares trading well below both their pre-split highs and the levels reached immediately after the Warner Bros. Discovery deal collapsed, investors are likely to watch the company’s upcoming earnings report closely for signals on whether recent price increases, continued advertising growth, and the absence of the now-abandoned acquisition’s associated costs and complexity can help stabilize the stock’s performance for the remainder of 2026.