The Guardian view on Rachel Reeves’s spending cuts: a choice, not an economic necessity | Editorial
The spring statement casts austerity as unavoidable, but Labour is clinging to economic myths while ignoring the tools of power The chancellor’s spring statement arrives with the sombre tone of inevitability. Britain, we’re told, must tighten its belt. Welfare payments for the sick and disabled will be shrunk.
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Labour’s economic strategy is outdated. I can fix that | Jagjit Chadha
The last thing we need from Wednesday’s spring statement are incremental changes to tax and spending. Let’s have a clear plan Jagjit Chadha is professor of economics at Cambridge University and a former academic adviser to HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Treasury select committee Britain
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Bank of England in no hurry on interest rates – but cuts will come
Despite the decision to hold at 4.5%, businesses and households can take a confident view of the UK’s prospects Bank of England says companies freezing hiring plans as it keeps interest rates on hold Bank of England policymakers might be on a “go-slow” as they look forward to
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Bank of England says companies freezing hiring plans as it keeps interest rates on hold
Rate-setting committee also points to mounting global uncertainty as it pauses its cycle of reductions Business live latest updates The Bank of England has said UK businesses are freezing their hiring plans in response to Rachel Reeves’s tax increases and to mounting global uncertainty as it kept interest
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UK pay growth remains high, making interest rate cut less likely
Unemployment was level in January, but has risen over the past six months Business live latest updates Pay growth remained high at 5.8% in the three months to January, according to official data, maintaining the pressure on Bank of England policymakers to keep interest rates elevated when they
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Former Bank of England deputy warns Rachel Reeves against kneejerk cuts
Charlie Bean says OBR forecasts are ‘flaky’ and cautions against trying to hit targets five years away The former Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean has warned the chancellor against making kneejerk cuts in next week’s spring statement to try to hit fiscal targets that are five
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Fear of a tariff ‘Trumpcession’ puts pressure on Bank and Fed over interest rates
A trade war could push up inflation when both the UK and US economies really need cheaper borrowing. So what’s a central bank to do? Monetary policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic will be considering how seriously to take Donald Trump’s threats of an all-out trade war
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UK economy shrinks unexpectedly in blow to Rachel Reeves
ONS data showing 0.1% fall in GDP in January comes less than two weeks before chancellor’s spring statement Analysis: Shrinking economy an unhelpful backdrop for Reeves’s growth push Business live – latest updates The UK economy contracted by 0.1% in January, dealing a blow to Rachel Reeves before
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Tiffany Sadler, UK Special Envoy to the Great Lakes to visit Kigali
The UK Special Envoy to the Great Lakes, Tiffany Sadler, will be in Kigali next week, after visiting Kinshasa and Kampala. HM GovernmentSource
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British vets could face price caps and ban on bonuses linked to pet treatments – business live
Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as UK’s Competition and Markets Authority scrutinises veterinary industry and companies adjust to Trump tariffs Fhaheen Khan, senior economist at Make UK, a lobby group for British manufacturing, said: UK manufacturers are caught in the eye of a perfect
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