THE MJBURROWS BRIEFING - NEWS - Week 8

If you’re earning decent money but still feel far from “rich,” brace yourself. The Autumn Budget just dealt a serious blow to your wallet. High earner households—dubbed HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet)—could lose over £15,000 in purchasing power by 2029, thanks to Rachel Reeves’ tax freezes and fiscal drag. While the Chancellor technically avoided hiking income tax rates, frozen thresholds and sneaky policy tweaks mean your money won’t stretch as far. Here’s what’s happening and why it matters to anyone earning above average.

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First time buyers borrowed a record £82.8bn in 2025, a whopping 30% jump from last year. What’s driving this mortgage boom?

Trump just did what Silicon Valley’s been begging for: one national AI rulebook for the entire US.

UK consumer confidence has just hit its lowest point in two years, and Britons are more worried about their finances than they’ve been since December 2023.

Here’s something you don’t see every day in crypto: a streak. And we’re not talking about a lucky run at the casino, XRP spot ETFs have pulled in fresh capital for 30 consecutive trading days since launching in mid-November. Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs? They’ve been bouncing in and out of outflows like a yo-yo. What’s driving this divergence, and why are investors treating XRP differently from the big two? Let’s break it down.

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Q: First time buyers borrowed a record £82.8bn in 2025, a whopping 30% jump from last year. What’s driving this mortgage boom?

HSBC just made a promise that’s becoming increasingly rare in British banking: they’re keeping every single one of their UK branches open until at least 2027. The bank’s backing this up with a £55.8m investment in 2026, a 30% jump from this year’s £42m spend. It’s a notable move in an industry that’s shed over 6,000 branches in the past decade, and it comes as customers increasingly worry about accessing cash and in-person banking services.

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