Latest news with #UKpolitics
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Lowering UK voting age benefits 'both sides' of political extremes
Lowering UK voting age benefits 'both sides' of political extremes Quotable Conservative Commentator Alex Deane argues lowering the UK voting age to 16 wouldn't just benefit the Labour Party or the mainstream parties, but would help both sides of political extremes. Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 07 seconds 01:07 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 11 seconds 01:11 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 00 seconds 01:00 Video Duration 01 minutes 05 seconds 01:05
Irish Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The roots of the British malaise lie in a sick economy
The UK suffers from three failures: failing politics; a failing state; and a failing economy. Of these, the last is much the most important. I am not arguing that these failures are significant by global standards: UK politics is still relatively decent and democratic; the state is relatively competent and effective; and, not least, the British still enjoy a relatively high standard of living. The problem is that the economy does not provide a rising standard of living or the expected quality of public services at politically acceptable levels of taxation. The state is also unable to ameliorate the painful trade-offs this reality has imposed. Finally, the politicians cannot confront the choices they face, as we have seen with Keir Starmer, most recently over welfare reform, but also over the questions of tax, spending and economic reform raised in the 2024 general election. READ MORE Numbers tell the story. According to the from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, real disposable income per head rose by just 14 per cent between the third quarters of 2007 and 2024: it had risen 48 per cent between the third quarters of 1990 and 2007. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the trend growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per head in the UK had been 2.5 per cent a year from 1990 to 2007: then, between 2008 and 2025, it was just 0.7 per cent. Keir Starmer is not a charlatan. But he has not been prepared to take on the burden of leadership that current conditions require. This reduction of 1.8 percentage points in the growth rate was the largest in the group of seven high-income countries (plus Spain). In the second period, only Italy has grown considerably more slowly than the UK. As a result, UK GDP per head in 2025 is forecast to be 33 per cent lower than it would have been if the 1990-2007 trend growth had continued. This is the biggest shortfall among all these countries. All of this is rooted in the most important collapse of all, that in productivity growth. According to the Organisat ion for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), real output per hour rose by a miserable 6 per cent in the UK between 2007 and 2023. This was the same as in France and again, above Italy. But in the US the rise was 22 per cent. In the euro zone as a whole it was 10 per cent. The UK's stagnant productivity is a big worry. When economies cease to grow, everything becomes zero-sum: more for one group of people means less for others. How the wealthy are buying up land to avoid inheritance tax Listen | 22:03 The problem is even greater if demographic change increases the number of beneficiaries of fiscal transfers relative to that of productive taxpayers. The overwhelming questions in politics become how to contain the discontent when much of the population has stagnant real incomes, how to manage the public finances, especially during shocks, and how to get the economy growing again. These are tough questions. This is partly because the most important of all, namely, what to do to raise economic growth, is so hard to answer. Nobody expected such a large and widespread fall in trend growth in high-income countries as has happened since 2007. Even the US has suffered a significant decline in growth of GDP per head in the post-2007 period. But the decline in the UK's growth rate is quite exceptional. More fundamentally, while economists have some ideas about the sources of economic growth, these amount to much less than precise knowledge. This is partly because both the nature and impact of technological progress is so hard to foresee. Today, for example, some think artificial intelligence will transform productivity for the better. Others most definitely are sceptical. Indubitably, a serious government would be devoting vast intellectual resources to the question of how to raise the growth rate. None has, including this one. The charlatans pretend that something simple – Brexit or huge unfunded tax cuts – will deliver. A starting point, in my view, must be recognition that the Thatcher experiment failed: it did not transform the underlying performance of the economy for the better. This must now be admitted. Too much of the post-Thatcher performance was unsustainable. This was, in good part, because it was the fruit of a global credit bubble, in which the UK was a leading actor. My hope is to devote future columns to how a new growth strategy might work. But, before that, it is crucial to recognise the political responses we have been seeing since 2010. By and large, these have fallen into two categories: charlatanism and timidity. The charlatans pretend that something simple – Brexit or huge unfunded tax cuts – will deliver. The timid have been relatively responsible. But they have been unwilling to admit the scale of the economic and political challenges they confront and then make hard choices. Keir Starmer is not a charlatan. But he has not been prepared to take on the burden of leadership that current conditions require. I sympathise. But his timidity will not work. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
The Standard
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Standard
Is London still a global financial hub? NY-HK dominance leaves UK behind
Rachel Reeves tearing up next to Keir Starmer – coupled with rising government debt – has further fueled investor concerns in the UK.
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Global shares little changed after UK market rout
Global shares were largely unchanged on Wednesday after unexpectedly weak US labour market data and a rout in British markets as speculation grew about UK chancellor Rachel Reeves' political future. Dublin The Iseq index moved 0.2 per cent higher, led by Ryanair and the main Irish banks. The airline jumped 0.7 per cent to €23.99 per share after reporting a 3 per cent rise in passenger numbers for June. On a rolling 12-month basis to the end of December, traffic rose 7 per cent compared to the previous year, reaching 202.6 million, Ryanair said. Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland and AIB added 0.7 per cent each to close at €11.97 per share and €6.83 respectively. Kingspan also advanced, adding 0.8 per cent to €72.20. Moving in the opposite direction, Glanbia gave up some of its recent momentum, slipping 0.4 per cent to close at €12.77 per share. Kerry Group also slid by 0.9 per cent to €93.45. London UK stocks lagged their European counterparts, while gilts and the British pound sold off after Keir Starmer initially declined to back his tearful chancellor at prime minister's questions in Westminster. The benchmark FTSE 100 slid by just over 0.1 per cent while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.3 per cent. Oil and gas companies gain in line with rising commodities prices with Shell jumping more than 1.6 per cent and BP advancing by more than 3.1 per cent. The mid-cap index was led lower by Bytes Technology Group after the software company issued a profit warning. Greggs also plunged after it said its full-year profit may be lower than last year as high temperatures in June discouraged people from eating out. Spectris Plc jumped as much as 5.3 per cent after KKR offered to buy the British company at £40 per share. Europe Fuelled by a flurry of deals, European stocks rose in the early part of the session but turned lower after the US jobs data release. The Stoxx 600 index closed marginally higher, while the blue-chip Stoxx 50 finished up more than 0.7 per cent. Banco Sabadell rose as much as 5.5 per cent after Banco Santander agreed to buy its TSB business for €3 billion. Banks advanced across the board, with Dutch lender ING up 1.7 per cent, France's BNP Paribas up 1.9 per cent, and Sabadell's domestic Spanish rival Santander ahead by more than 2 per cent. Elsewhere, shares in Hellenic Exchanges surged close to 15 per cent, the most since 2020, as Euronext announced it was in talks to buy the Athens stock market operator New York US stocks were flat, erasing pre-market losses after a report showing an unexpected decline in employment raised concerns of slowing economic growth in advance of a more widely followed gauge of labour due Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent after US president Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam with furniture stocks and apparel makers recording gains. Nike and Lululemon also jumped to hit session highs. Among single-stock movers, Tesla shares rose 2.80 per cent as the company saw its first increase in vehicle deliveries from its Shanghai factory this year. Centene tumbled 35.85 per cent after the health insurer pulled its 2025 guidance, citing insurance market trends that veered from its assumptions and threaten $1.8 billion in revenue. Apple shares ticked higher 2.10 per cent after Jefferies raised its recommendation on the tech giant to hold from underperform. Elsewhere, stocks of some of Wall Street's largest lenders including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America rose after banks boosted their dividends. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Labour Taxes Ice London's Housing Market
The secret of postwar UK politics has been to keep house prices rising so middle-class voters feel wealthier. This most basic of UK electoral rules — it's the housing economy, stupid — has escaped Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, whose tax policy has smothered an already struggling market. Small though her tweaks are, they're having a profound psychological effect on confidence because they display the likely approach for the next four years — note the March rush to get deals done before an increased transaction tax came into effect. Furthermore, why would housebuilders commit to build millions more homes if there aren't the buyers queuing up to take them off their hands?
