Five days from the Winter Budget, and fresh reports today show the economy is not exactly ‘going for growth’ under Labour. S&P Global’s latest PMI shows there’s been yet another slowdown in private sector activity this month, with services activity hitting a 7-month low, and manufacturing output dropping to a 2-month low. Chris Williamson at S&P Global added: “Economic growth has stalled, job losses have accelerated, and business confidence has deteriorated”…
At the same time, the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer shows that all measures of consumer confidence fell in November, and latest ONS figures reveal that retail sales unexpectedly fell 1.1% in October. This morning Reeves woke up to find that she had borrowed £3 billion more in October than the OBR forecast. And, by the way Reeves, a woman wrote this story…
Asked about briefings that Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham were plotting to replace him, Starmer said:
“My message would be very much that every minute that we are not talking about the cost of living, and straining every sinew to ensure that those that need our help in relation to the cost of living and feeling better off, and having a better health service, and feeling safer and more secure in their community, is a minute wasted.”