PRESS DIGEST-British Business - August 8

Aug 8 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- Israel is considering withdrawing defence and security co-operation with the UK if Sir Keir Starmer goes ahead with recognising Palestine, in a move that could undermine national security.

- Bank of England monetary policy committee, the nine-member group that sets the base rate of interest every six weeks, voted 5-4 in favour of lowering borrowing costs by 0.25 percentage points to 4% on Thursday, the lowest level in over two years.

The Guardian

- UK's Chancellor Reeves and Starmer will begin to pitch-roll tax rises and reforms from September as part of a strategy to prepare the country for a difficult budget that could be held in November, the Guardian has been told.

The Telegraph

- British broadband TalkTalk has revealed losses of nearly 500 million pounds ($671.55 million) after Sir Charles Dunstone, its founder, was forced to call in its second bailout in a year. Troubled broadband provider haemorrhages customers and struggles to pay its bills.

Sky News

- Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali has resigned after reportedly hiking the rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds - something described by one of her tenants as "extortion".

The Independent

- Global advertising giant WPP WPP.L has cut its workforce by around 4,000 since the start of the year as profits plunged in a “challenging” first half. The firm said the number of staff employed by the group dropped by 3.7% to 104,000 over the first six months of 2025.

($1 = 0.7445 pounds)