Payments regulator in Treasury crosshairs as firms revolt December 16, 2024 As the government hunts for ways to make Britain more competitive, the country's payments regulator has become caught in the crosshairs.
Bank of England set to hold interest rates after inflation jump December 16, 2024 The Bank of England is poised to leave interest rates on hold this week after inflation rose more than expected.
UK inflation expected to rise again in fresh blow to Labour December 16, 2024 Official data this week is expected to show inflation moved further away from the Bank of England's two per cent target in November, dealing another blow to the government after a contraction in GDP.
Growth is easier to destroy than to build December 16, 2024 Missions, milestones, foundations and pledges; Keir Starmer has unveiled them all since winning the election in July, but no amount of visionary rhetoric can compel an economy to grow. Since Labour’s election victory the British economy has whimpered to a halt. GDP flatlined in July and achieved a barely perceptible nudge up in August before contracting [...]
UK economy ‘at risk of stagflation’ as growth stalls under Labour December 13, 2024 Latest official GDP figures show the UK economy has stopped expanding since Labour took power, creating a headache for Keir Starmer after putting growth at the centre of his government’s mission. The economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1 per cent in October, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics. It missed economists’ expectations [...]
UK economy on ‘recession watch’ after unexpected contraction December 13, 2024 The UK economy shrank unexpectedly in October after a fall in production output and stagnation in the services sector ahead of the Budget. GDP fell 0.1 per cent during the month, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Economists had expected a return to modest growth of 0.1 per cent. It marks two [...]
Labour’s business backers – where are they now? December 10, 2024 Labour won the public backing of over 120 business chiefs in a letter before the election – but the enthusiasm of those executives appears to have dimmed since then. City AM tried to track them down. It was a letter that seemed to signal a tectonic shift in British politics when it landed in newspapers [...]
London house prices reach ‘unaffordable’ levels – even for top earners December 9, 2024 Even the richest people in London are being priced out of the property market as house prices reach record levels, the Office for National Statistics has found. “In London, the average home was not affordable for any household income decile,” the statistics watchdog said in its latest Housing Purchase Affordability index, using 2023 data. The [...]
Reeves promises ‘deeper, more mature’ economic relationship with EU December 9, 2024 Rachel Reeves has pledged to build a “deeper, more mature relationship” with European trading partners in the first speech by a UK chancellor to eurozone finance ministers since 2020. Speaking to the Eurogroup in Brussels on Monday, Reeves also brushed off the suggestion that Britain must choose between closer ties with the US and EU [...]
No Christmas cheer for employers as 2024 draws to a close December 9, 2024 There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful at this time of year, but the state of the economy isn’t one of them. As Christmas trees go up and celebrations get underway, there are worrying signs that large parts of corporate Britain are preparing to end the year in a state of nervousness and pessimism. [...]