Bank of England warns Burnham of UK economy’s ‘big issue’ Economics The Bank of England has warned Andy Burnham that economic growth remains the “big issue” facing the UK economy as he prepares to take the keys to Number 10. Andrew Bailey, the central bank governor, told policymakers on Tuesday that the UK has had “low growth for the best part of 16 to 17 years”. [...]
Rachel Reeves’ legacy of tinkering with the City is not enough, says Mel Stride Economics Sir Mel Stride has branded Rachel Reeves’ legacy in government as mere “tinkering” with City reform as the top Tory predicted her successor will create a “hostile” environment for the banking sector. In an interview with Morning Wire, the shadow Chancellor branded Reeves’ two-years in the Treasury as “managerial incrementalism,” adding it was “not enough”. [...]
Construction sector cuts jobs again as house building slumps Industrials The construction industry shed jobs for the 18th consecutive month in June following “sharp declines” in house building and a slowdown in new home sales. The latest S&P Global Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for the construction sector showed more cutbacks to employment with another period of “sustained job shedding”. Subcontractors were also hit by the [...]
Interest rate cut is ‘off the table’, says Bank of England governor July 2, 2026 Andrew Bailey has said cutting interest rates is “off the table at the moment” in the clearest sign yet borrowing costs are likely to stay elevated for the rest of the year. The Bank of England governor said on a panel at the European Central Bank’s annual conference in Portugal that inflationary pressures following the [...]
BCC’s Haviland: Burnham must make growth his number one priority June 24, 2026 Andy Burnham must place economic growth at the heart of his premiership and promise to bring down costs for businesses if he wants the Labour party to win back the trust of the private sector, the boss of Britain’s largest industry body will say. In a speech at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference, [...]
Government should fix ‘stubbornly weak’ growth with policy test, industry body argues June 15, 2026 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling on the government to break decades of low economic growth by introducing a new delivery test, as businesses continue to slash investment under the burden of mounting costs. In the BCC diagnoses, the UK’s growth problem is not a lack of potential but a failure to turn [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 and Wall Street hit by stock sell-off; CBI cuts UK GDP June 9, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Rachel Reeves is staring down another bruising growth downgrade this morning after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) slashed the UK’s GDP forecast to 1.1 per cent for the year. The figure is a drop from 1.4 per cent last year and below the previous consensus of 1.3 [...]
Banks call for ‘political mandate’ to bolster European defence June 8, 2026 The banking industry has issued a rallying call for a “political mandate” from the UK and EU in a bid to get regulators to open the taps to a fresh flood of defence financing. A new report from UK Finance – which represents the nation’s financial services giants from Lloyds to Revolut – has called [...]
Financial services contributed a tenth of UK economic output in 2025 June 3, 2026 The financial services sector contributed over a tenth of the UK’s economic output in the last year as the industry’s productivity outpaced average momentum. The industry provided a £290bn boost to the UK’s real GDP – a macroeconomic measure that adjusts the value of economic output for inflation – in 2025 marking around 11 per [...]
Rising hiring costs push British businesses to the brink May 21, 2026 UK businesses are on the brink due to the government’s highly contentious employment rights agenda and cost hikes, following the first provisions of the Employment Rights Act, which came into force in April. According to new research from Employment Hero, an AI-powered employment platform, more than half of UK businesses feel employing staff has “become more [...]