It’s more bad news for the Chancellor as December’s retail sales took a sharper dive than expected, with businesses and consumers still grappling with the fallout of Reeves’ tax raid right before Christmas. The Office for National Statistics revealed a 0.3% drop in sales volumes over the festive season, shattering analysts’ rosier forecasts of a 0.4% increase. Strip out fuel, and the picture darkens further with a 0.6% monthly decline. Even worse, November’s figures were quietly downgraded from 0.2% growth to 0.1%…
Meanwhile, the pound slid further, down 0.5% against the dollar and 0.4% against the euro. Elliott Jordan-Doak of Pantheon Macroeconomics warned the dismal retail performance could mean the economy contracted in Q4, stating, “Softening sales add to disappointment from November GDP earlier this week, suggesting the economy stagnated in Q4 or may even have contracted slightly.” Next boss added that Reeves’ NICs hikes is choking entry-level job opportunities, lamenting that “the axe has fallen particularly hard” on people trying to get first jobs as consumer confidence plunges. Reeves’ so-called “growth plan” is more like a wrecking ball…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”