Last month they were cut from 5%. After inflation rose to 2.6%, above target, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided to hold rates there. As widely expected by markets…
The Bank says the MPC “voted by a majority of 6–3 to maintain Bank Rate at 4.75%. Three members preferred to reduce Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 4.5%.” Doveish enough…
The next decision will be on 6th February in the New Year. The Bank’s bulletin adds that “most indicators of UK near-term activity have declined. Bank staff expect GDP growth to have been weaker at the end of the year than projected in the November Monetary Policy Report.” Merry Christmas from Ms. Reeves…
The Bank of England’s long-running Decision Maker Panel has released its latest responses just now. 2,255 Chief Financial Officers from small, medium and large UK businesses have reported on various indicators – including this time on the impact of Reeves’ Budget. It paints a picture…
No Labour politician has repeated Reeves’ promise of last week not to raise taxes again when prompted, including the Chancellor. Gulp…
Reeves is due this afternoon to sit down for questions in a “fireside chat” at the CBI annual conference. The Chancellor is under significant pressure over her career history after Guido exposed her LinkedIn CV edits…
Reeves no longer claims she was an economist at HBOS after Guido revealed her real position was in administrative complaints. Hacks have also seized on Reeves’ six years at the Bank of England, pointing to a tweet from 2012 in which she describes herself as a ‘very junior Japan analyst’ in her first years at the bank. Guido can reveal that Reeves wasn’t even described as an actual “Economist” two years into the job…
In February of 2002 Rachel wrote in favour of a pro-Comprehensive School campaign by the Campaign for State Education. The following blurb introduced her:
“Rachel Reeves is a 23-year-old trainee economist at the Bank of England. She attended Cator Park School, Beckenham from 1990- 1997 and New College Oxford from 1997-2000.”
Reeves was two years into her job at the Bank of England at this point and was soon to depart to Washington to work away from the Bank in the British Embassy. On her return, she spent a year out at LSE to complete a masters, which she received in 2004. Within another year she would be selected as Labour candidate for Bromley and Chislehurst and barred from working at the BoE for months. Their rules state employees are “required to take unpaid leave from the point of adoption as a prospective candidate until the election.” The same thing occurred when she stood in the by-election the next year. Even as a trainee two years into the job Reeves was pitching in to political campaigns – was working as an actual economist too boring for her?
The press is piling pressure on Reeves over the LinkedIn CV fiddling Guido exposed last week. Who else to come to Reeves’ rescue than… The Guardian…
The Guardian is in full spin mode over the story. They say Downing Street has defended Reeves “as someone who’s been ‘straight with the public’ in response to claims she embellished her CV.” That is quite the interpretation of the actual quote from the PM’s spokesman, which is diversionary and unrelated to the CV claims:
“This is someone who on coming into office looked under the bonnet and exposed a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, and has been straight with the public about what is necessary to balance the books and restore financial stability in the face of that.”
In reality Downing Street refused to say if Reeves had broken the ministerial code or not and referred hacks to the Treasury’s line from last Friday. Hilariously the Guardian then goes on to wax lyrical over Reeves’ qualifications: “To get a job at the Bank of England as a graduate requires considerable ability, and Reeves has said she turned down a job offer from Goldman Sachs around the same time. Before the general election Mark Carney, a former Bank of England governor, said Reeves was the right person to be next chancellor.” If you’re explaining, you’re losing…
Hilariously the Guardian also claims “Mervyn King, Carney’s predecessor, has also spoken positively about working with Reeves at the Bank when he was in charge.” Its own article proves that to be false – it was Reeves said she had a good time at the bank: “I remember your telling me one day that the reason you enjoyed working at the Bank of England was the opportunity to work with other very bright young people.” Smacking of desperation here…
The paper also claims that “there is no evidence that Reeves has gained any career advantage by people thinking she was working as an economist at HBOS when she was there in a different role.” It’s not like she’s ever mentioned the economist thing before…
Reeves got the big guns out last night for her Mansion House speech, in which she claimed that “we must reset our relationship” to repair “structural challenges, including those which have come from Brexit.” Andrew Bailey came along to support that analysis. Even the FT said that’s a “highly unusual” move…
The Bank of England Governor said the UK should “welcome opportunities to rebuild relations” with the bloc because “the changing trading relationship with the EU has weighed on the level of potential supply.” In a thinly veiled attack on Trump, Bailey said the “picture is now clouded by the impact of geopolitical shocks and the broader fragmentation of the world economy.” Which means we should take shelter with a stagnant continental economy…
Reeves has already shaved off the UK’s comparatively lower costs of doing business while the Home Office sets up a dedicated “Europe Hub” to get closer to the continent. On the US the Chancellor said “there is so much potential for us to deepen our economic relationship.” The US might be more minded to open up to Britain if it wasn’t in the process of running back to a rival bloc…
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England has voted to cut interest rates by 0.25% to 4.75%. Markets had the probability of this outcome at 98%…
The vote split was 1 to hold and 8 to cut. Consensus…
The bank dropped the rate in August and held it in September. With inflation falling more cuts are expected…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”