Week in Business: Will Donald Trump’s trade war blow up the UK economy? April 3, 2025 Liberation Day, Independence Day, the greatest day in American history? Or the end of the global economic order and the start of a dangerous new world? In the end it was classic Trump, sometimes reading from an autocue as if for the first time, sometimes veering off script in erratic directions, calling out supporters in [...]
UK services and composite PMIs underwhelm economists April 3, 2025 The UK service sector saw a “modest expansion” in March but economists overestimated S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) readings for the month. S&P Global’s latest composite PMI reading, which takes an average of manufacturing and services output for the month, came in at 51.5. The figure points to a slight expansion in UK output [...]
Co-op profit jumps six-fold ahead of supermarket ‘trolley wars’ April 3, 2025 The Co-op has reported a huge jump in profit for 2024 ahead of potential ‘trolley wars’ in the grocery sector. Group revenue was broadly stable year on year, ticking up by 0.2 per cent to £11.3bn, while underlying profit rose by 35 per cent to £131m. Operating profit more than doubled, from £66m to £151m, [...]
Wise shares jump after the company upgrades forecasts April 3, 2025 Shares in global fintech Wise jumped six per cent in early deals this morning after the firm posted preliminary figures for its current financial year on Thursday ahead of its capital markets day. The event’s presentation will also include updates on the current financial year, for which the full results will be posted on June [...]
US tariffs: Keir Starmer vows to ‘keep cool head’ in face of ‘economic impact’ April 3, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “keep a cool head” in the face of the “economic impact” of Donald Trump’s 10 per cent tariffs on UK exports to the US, amid fears of a wider trade war. The Prime Minister spoke to business chiefs in Downing Street this morning in the wake of sweeping global [...]
US tariffs: UK in ‘better position’ than some but still ‘a challenge’ – Reynolds April 3, 2025 The UK is in a “better position than a lot of other countries” after Donald Trump imposed a 10 per cent rate of tariffs on exports to the US, Jonathan Reynolds has said. The US President imposed a rate of 20 per cent on the European Union (EU), 24 per cent on Japan and 34 [...]
Trump confirms 10 per cent tariffs to hit UK exports in huge economic blow April 2, 2025 Donald Trump has confirmed the UK will be hit by 10 per cent tariffs on exports to the US, in a major blow to Britain’s economic growth. The US President confirmed the measure in a provocative and bombastic statement in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday at just after 9pm UK time. The European [...]
Rachel Reeves: UK will not ‘rush into action’ after Trump’s tariffs speech April 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated that the UK is unlikely to respond quickly to President Trump should he impose damaging tariffs on goods coming from Britain. In a hearing at the Treasury Committee on Wednesday, Reeves said the UK would not “rush into action to get a quick headline”. “The prize on offer is a [...]
Trump’s tariffs could crush UK growth to zero April 2, 2025 US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could knock UK growth down to zero next year, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). The prospect of low or zero growth would deal a catastrophic blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans for further investment in public services as estimates by NIESR suggest that a [...]
Reeves’ black hole alarmism is creating something scarier: A real one April 2, 2025 Reeves' fearmongering has scared Brits into saving. The consequences will be more frightening than Reeves' 'black hole', writes Paul Ormerod.