Bad news for Rachel Reeves this morning. UK GDP shrank by 0.1% in January, according to the latest ONS figures. That’s a drop from December’s 0.4% growth and below the expected 0.1% rise. Economists said the fall was led by a slowdown in manufacturing, as well as oil and gas extraction slumping. Meanwhile the Pound slipped 0.1% against the dollar. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said:
“It is no surprise that growth is down again, following near no growth in the last three months of 2024. The Chancellor has 12 days until her emergency budget – she must think again or hard-working people will continue to pay the price of a Labour Government without any business experience.”
Reeves’ response is again that “the world has changed” as businesses prepare for her tax raid coming into effect in April. So much for Labour’s promise to “kickstart” the economy…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”