The latest S&P Global Flash UK PMI composite output index dropped to 48.5 in May from 52.6 in April. A 13-month low and well below the 50 expansion threshold…
That reading significantly undershot the 51.6 consensus forecast from Reuters-polled economists. Services saw the sharpest activity decline since January 2021, with the overall reading the lowest outside the pandemic in nearly a decade. S&P Global’s Chris Williamson said there is a “perfect storm” of political uncertainty compounding the economic fallout from Iran…
Firms reported falling output, surging inflation, supply shortages, and job cuts, with weaker investment sentiment and delayed consumer spending decisions. And Labour’s faux-leadership contenders are arguing about how much to increase tax by…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”