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[1/5] Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement, in London, Britain, November 22, 2023. "After a global pandemic and energy crisis, we have taken difficult decisions to put our economy back on track," Hunt told parliament on Wednesday in his Autumn Statement fiscal update. Hunt pointed to OBR forecasts showing the government would meet its targets for the public finances, leaving open the possibility of further pre-election giveaways to voters in his full budget statement expected in early 2024. Sunak this week promised "responsible" tax cuts, mindful of last year's "mini-budget" turmoil in financial markets triggered by his predecessor Liz Truss's plans for much bigger tax cuts. This time last year, the newly installed Sunak and Hunt raised taxes sharply to quell the bond market mayhem.

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Stefan Rousseau, Hunt, Rishi Sunak's, Paul Johnson, we've, giveaways, Johnson, BoE, Philip Shaw, Liz Truss's, Muvija M, Paul Sandle, Sarah Young, William James, Elizabeth Piper, Alistair Smout, Andrew MacAskill, James Davey, Suban Abdulla, Farouq Suleiman, Kate Holton, Sumanta Sen, William Schomberg, Catherine Evans Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Labour, Labour Party, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Gross, Reuters Graphics, Bank of England, Graphics, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, British

Out of the 29 cabinet roles, at least 16 backed remaining in the EU, compared with 10 who supported leaving. Sunak's party still languishes around 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party before an election that must happen by January 2025. But as he was talking, he asked a former cabinet minister to the right of the party for her thoughts. With few Conservatives believing they can win the next election, others might follow her in preparing for a new job. For the Conservatives to stand a chance, they need to change that perception, and it's hard to imagine how bringing David Cameron back does that," he said.

Persons: David Cameron's, Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman, Sunak, Liz Truss's, Braverman, Cameron, Boris Johnson, Johnson, Dehenna Davison, Keiran, David Cameron, Kylie MacLellan, Elizabeth Piper, Kate Holton, Alex Richardson Organizations: British, European Union, EU, Conservative, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservatives, Thomson Locations: England

☆ London's financial heart is sizing up a win for center-left Labour party at next year's UK election
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLIVERPOOL, England — The U.K.'s main opposition Labour party is seeking to woo London's powerful financial center as it sets its sights on winning power at next year's General Election. At the party's conference this week, lawmakers were unanimous in emphasizing Labour's renewed focus under leader Keir Starmer on spurring economic growth as its number one priority. Speaking at a fringe event on Sunday, Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury James Murray reiterated the party's mission of achieving the highest growth in the G7 and engaging the private sector. It really is crucial to underpin the encouragement of businesses to invest, to underpin everyone working together for economic growth," Murray added. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a host of new economic pledges aimed at stimulating growth, vowing to "rebuild Britain" if Labour wins the 2024 General Election.

Persons: Keir Starmer, James Murray, Murray, Rishi, Liz Truss's, Kwasi Kwarteng, Rachel Reeves, Reeves, Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer, Emma Reynolds Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Labour, Shadow, Conservative Party, Treasury Locations: Canary, London, LIVERPOOL, England, Britain, Liverpool

☆ UK opposition Labour announces sweeping economic reforms in promise to 'rebuild Britain'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LIVERPOOL, England — Britain's main opposition Labour party on Monday vowed to "rebuild Britain" if it wins the 2024 General Election, as Shadow Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced a host of new economic pledges aimed at stimulating growth. The lifeblood of a growing economy is business investment," Reeves said, further cementing the party's recalibration in recent years as a centrist, pro-business alternative to the ruling Conservatives. Truss and then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng opted not to seek an independent appraisal from the OBR, breaking with traditional norms of economic policy. Labour holds around a 20-point lead over the Conservatives across most major polling, with the ruling party damaged by a string of scandals and the fallout from Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss's "mini-budget." In order to catalyze and de-risk business investment, Labour would create a new national wealth fund, Reeves also announced.

Persons: Rachel Reeves, Jeremy Hunt, Reeves, Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss's Organizations: Labour, Shadow, Conservative Party Locations: LIVERPOOL, England, Britain, Liverpool, France, Germany, America

☆ Sterling hits fresh multi-month lows on dollar and euro
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Alun John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pound Sterling notes and change are seen inside a cash resgister in a coffee shop in Manchester, Britain, Septem,ber 21, 2018. Sterling, on Monday, dropped as much as 0.25% to $1.2213 its lowest since March 2023, though later steadied to trade flat on the day at $1.2242. The euro on Monday briefly touched 87.03 pence, its highest since May, and was last flat a touch below that level. "What we’re seeing today is the Chinese real estate worries bleeding into the European session, weighing on equity markets and then on the euro and sterling," said Nick Rees, FX market analyst at Monex Europe. "That builds on what happened last week with the Bank of England," said Rees, "Markets are now thinking about what the Bank is seeing in the economy."

Persons: Pound Sterling, ber, Phil Noble, BOE, Liz, Nick Rees, Rees, Alun John, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, FX, Monex, Global, China, HK, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain

Net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, stood at 4.3 billion pounds ($5.49 billion) last month, less than the median forecast of 5.0 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists. In the first four months of the financial year, borrowing stood at 56.6 billion pounds. "As inflation slows, it's vital that we don’t alter our course and continue to act responsibly with the public finances," Hunt said in a statement after the data. Interest costs rose by 1.5 billion pounds compared with July last year to 7.7 billion pounds, the highest for July since records began in April 1997. The public finances were boosted by inflows of self-assessed income tax receipts which are typically strong in July, which stood at 11.8 billion pounds, 2.5 billion pounds more than in July last year.

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Jessica Taylor, Handout, Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss's, Ruth Gregory, Gregory, Gabriella Dickens, William Schomberg, Sachin Ravikumar, Andrew Heavens, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, Bank of England, Conservative Party, Treasury, Capital Economics, Senior, National Statistics, Britain's, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

☆ Pound's mini-budget dip made UK's Brexit bill dearer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In previous years, the Treasury's "reportable losses" have ranged between zero and a few million pounds. This 855 million-euro payment cost Britain 764 million pounds on a day when 1 pound would buy only 1.12 euros. Back in April 2022, when the EU updated Britain's payment schedule for June through September, it assumed an exchange rate of around 1.18 euros per pound - equating to monthly payments of 719 million pounds rather than 764 million pounds. Still, that small net gain represents a sharp drop from March 2022 when it stood at 91.2 million pounds - with the payment on Sept. 30 a conspicuous loss-maker. Economists put the broader costs of the mini-budget episode - stemming from loss of investor confidence and higher market interest rates - in the billions of pounds.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Liz Truss's, James Murray, Kwasi Kwarteng, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Britain, Treasury, Labour Party, Reuters, Thomson

☆ UK buyers retreat from housing market, further slowdown seen - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's housing market showed signs of a slowdown in June and property surveyors expect activity to remain subdued as higher borrowing costs hit new buyer enquiries, according to an industry survey on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said a net balance of -45 in a poll of its members reported a fall in new buyer enquiries last month, down from the -20 in May. Britain's housing market faces pressure from softer buyer demand and falling house prices against a backdrop of surging mortgage rates and the Bank of England's battle to tame stubborn inflation. Average two-year fixed mortgage rates hit a 15-year high earlier this week. British mortgage lender Halifax, last week said house prices fell by 2.6% year-on-year in June, the largest annual drop since 2011.

Persons: Liz Truss's, Simon Rubinsohn, Rubinsohn, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: Royal Institution, Chartered Surveyors, Bank of, Financial, Halifax, Nationwide, Thomson

ORLANDO, Florida, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain has an inflation problem, but imagine how much worse it would be were it not for the strong pound? But of all the factors pushing up UK inflation, including some that are unique to Britain's economy, labor market and cost of doing business as a consequence of Brexit, a weak exchange rate is not one of them. Indeed, sterling's value on a real effective exchange rate (REER) basis is the highest it has been since the Brexit vote. "UK inflation would indeed be even higher if sterling had not appreciated," Novy said. All else being equal, and taking into account the notorious 'long and variable' lag between interest rate hikes and cooling price pressures, UK inflation could come down pretty quickly next year.

Persons: Liz Truss's, Dennis Novy, Novy, BoE, turvy, Alan Ruskin, Ruskin, Goldman Sachs, Jamie McGeever, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Bank of England, Reuters, University of Warwick, Brexit, Deutsche Bank, Thomson Locations: ORLANDO, Florida, Britain, Ukraine

☆ UK consumer morale touches 17-month high despite inflation pain - GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - British consumer sentiment hit its highest level since January 2022 as households turn more optimistic about their finance and economy, despite stubborn inflation and rising interest rates, market research firm GfK said on Friday. While British consumer price inflation has eased from the 41-year high of 11.1%, households are still grappling with the highest inflation rate among major rich economies, running at 8.7% in May, unchanged from April. "If consumers continue to weather the current economic storm, then this will provide a firm foundation for getting back to growth," Staton said. GfK said three measures of consumer sentiment edged up in June compared to the previous month when all five indicators pushed up. Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David MillikenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: GfK, Liz Truss's, Joe Staton, Staton, BoE, Andrew Bailey, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: Bank of England, Thomson

☆ Squeeze on UK tenants tightens as rents outpace incomes, survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Asking and agreed rents continued to outpace incomes with tenants spending 28.3% of their pre-tax earnings on rent last month, above the 10-year average of 27%, Zoopla said. May's figures marked the 19th month in a row that rental price growth outstripped incomes. He expected affordability strains to slow the pace of rental growth in 2024. Inflation data for May is due to be published on Wednesday. Zoopla said 53% of renters it surveyed reported a rent rise in the six months to May, up from 35% six months earlier.

Persons: Toby Melville, Zoopla, Richard Donnell, Donnell, BoE, Moneyfacts, Liz Truss's, Zoopla's Donnell, Zoopla's, Suban Abdulla, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Homeowners, Bank of, Nationwide, HSBC, Halifax, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Bank of England

☆ Bank of England launches first sector-wide liquidity 'stress test'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - The Bank of England has launched its first system-wide liquidity 'stress test' to establish how big banks, insurers, clearing houses and investment funds respond collectively during extreme stresses in markets, it said on Monday. The BoE had said in December that investment funds and other non-bank financial institutions would face their first 'stress test' to apply lessons from the near-meltdown in Britain's pension fund sector in September. Liability-driven investment (LDI) funds, used by pension funds to ensure their long-term payouts, struggled to meet collateral calls after turmoil caused by the fiscal plans of Liz Truss's short-lived government in September. Money market funds also came under "dash-for-cash" pressure during market stresses following economy lockdowns to fight COVID-19 in 2020. "The exercise is not a test of the resilience of the individual firms participating.

Persons: The BoE, BoE, Jon Cunliffe, Liz Truss's, lockdowns, COVID, Huw Jones, Emma Rumney, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Bank of England, Money, Thomson

☆ London's embattled hedge fund to be broken up as Wall Street banks cut ties over sexual harassment allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based hedge fund Odey Asset Management will break itself up, it said in a letter to investors Thursday. Its founder Crispin Odey was accused of sexual harassment by 13 women in a Financial Times investigation published last week. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley both cut ties with the asset manager after the allegations broke. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. The firm's founder Crispin Odey was accused of sexual harassment or assault by 13 women in a Financial Times investigation published last week.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Morgan Stanley, —, Odey, gilts, Liz Truss's, Liz Truss Organizations: Management, Financial, JPMorgan, Service, Investment, UBS, Authority, European Union – Locations: London, Brexit

☆ UK house prices post first annual drop since 2012, says Halifax
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - British house prices dropped on an annual basis in May for the first time in 11 years, and pressure on prospective buyers from higher mortgage rates could deepen the downturn, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday. Kim Kinnaird, director of mortgages at Halifax, said demand was weakening and higher interest rates were likely to increase pressure on house prices. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), on Tuesday said it would raise interest rates for its fixed home loans from Wednesday. The stronger-than-expected inflation data raised markets' bets interest rates will peak at 5.5% later this year. Nationwide, another lender, last week reported a steeper 0.5% month-on-month drop in house prices in April and a 3.4% annual decline - the biggest drop since 2009.

Persons: Kim Kinnaird, Liz Truss's, Kinnaird, Myron Jobson, Suban Abdulla, Andy Bruce, Paul Sandle, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Halifax, Lloyds Banking Group, Interactive Investor, Capital Economics, Nationwide, Thomson Locations: Halifax

☆ UK housing market improves but slowdown seen as rates rise-RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RICS' house price balance, which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, increased to -30 last month from -39 in April. However, analysts are forecasting another slowdown for the housing market with markets largely expecting the BoE's Bank Rate to peak at 5.5% later this year, up from 4.5% now. Britain's housing market staged a recovery earlier this year after former prime minister Liz Truss's "mini-budget" caused turmoil in financial markets in September and sent the cost of fixed mortgage rates sharply higher to above 6%. Britain's biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, on Wednesday said house prices dropped by 1.0% year-on-year in May, the first annual decline since 2012. Some mortgage lenders, including Halifax and Nationwide Building Society have ramped up their fixed mortgage rates in response to the rise in borrowing costs in financial markets.

Persons: RICS, Tarrant Parsons, Liz Truss's, BoE, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg Organizations: Bank of England, Royal Institution, Chartered Surveyors, Nationwide, Nationwide Building Society, Thomson Locations: April's, Halifax

☆ UK house prices fall by most since 2009, higher rates to bite-Nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - British house prices fell by the most since 2009 in the 12 months to May and the country's housing market faces further headwinds after a recent jump in borrowing costs, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday. Compared with May last year, the average house price was down 3.4% after a 2.7% annual fall in April, Nationwide said. House prices edged down by 0.1% in May from April after a monthly 0.4% rise in April, Nationwide said. Martin Beck, an economist with the EY Item Club, a forecasting group, said the 4% fall in house prices from last August's peak was modest compared with the 7% rise in house prices over the past two years. Analysts at Capital Economics said prices would fall another 8% while Pantheon Macroeconomics said they would drop 4%.

Persons: Liz Truss's, Headwinds, Robert Gardner, Gardner, Martin Beck, BoE, Beck, William Schomberg, Muvija M, Paul Sandle, Christina Fincher Organizations: Nationwide, Bank of, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: Bank, Bank of England

☆ European markets close higher with U.S. debt ceiling talks in final stages; tech stocks up 3%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt told Sky News he would be comfortable with Bank of England rate hikes pushing the economy into a recession as long as inflation comes down. "Because in the end, inflation is a source of instability," Hunt said. Money markets raised their bets on the central bank's peak rate from 4.75% to 5.5% after figures out Wednesday showed inflation fell by less than forecast. The bank's base rate is currently 4.5% and a 25 basis point hike in June is widely expected. Gilt yields have been moving higher, nearing levels last seen in the wake of former Prime Minister Liz Truss's market-rattling mini budget last October.

☆ Confidence returning to UK housing market as asking prices jump: Rightmove
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"One reason for this increased confidence may be that the gloomy start-of-the-year predictions for the market are looking increasingly unlikely," Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said. Earlier this year, British house prices were forecast by sector analysts to fall by as much as 15% by mid-2024. Rightmove said mortgage rates had been stable on a week-to-week basis. Mortgage lender Halifax said earlier this month that property prices grew at the slowest annual pace in over 10 years in April. But rival Nationwide said prices rose by a monthly 0.5% in April after falling for the seven previous months.

☆ British home-buyers, facing higher interest rates, retreat in April - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - British property surveyors reported a drop in demand in April as new buyers turned more cautious ahead of the Bank of England's latest expected interest rate increase, an industry survey showed on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its measure of new buyer enquiries fell to a net balance of -37 in last month from -30 in March, the lowest since January. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said the survey pointed to challenges in terms of sales and lettings. The net balance of agreed house sales across Britain fell slightly but respondents noted a pick-up in the number of properties on the market. Data from mortgage lender Halifax published on Tuesday showed house prices grew at the slowest annual pace in more than 10 years in April.

☆ ‘A Trump tribute act’: Meet Suella Braverman, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s culture wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

London CNN —Late last year, after a breakneck ascent of British politics put her in charge of the country’s migration, crime and national security agenda, Suella Braverman revealed her political fantasy. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAnd she is an equally furious culture warrior, borrowing rhetoric from the American right when lambasting “woke” culture, transgender rights and climate protesters. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesIt is a stance that has drawn sharp criticism – including from within the traditional wing of Braverman’s Conservative Party. Should Braverman succeed at her next bid for the party leadership, her critics fear another rightwards shift in British politics. “She’s recognized that in the current political climate, her way of creating an impact… (is) positioning herself as a Trump tribute act.

☆ UK draws record 46.4 billion pounds of demand for new inflation-linked bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Britain received a record 46.4 billion pounds ($57.9 billion) in demand from investors at the launch of a new inflation-linked government bond which will mature in March 2045, the United Kingdom Debt Management Office said on Wednesday. However the strong demand came at a price, with the 4.5 billion pounds of new gilts paying investors a return of 0.6543% on top of retail price inflation - the greatest real yield for any index-linked gilt sold via syndication since May 2011. The DMO said domestic investors accounted for 93% of the allocations of the bond. The volume of orders is the highest for any index-linked bond issued via syndication by the DMO, although a conventional gilt syndication of green gilts in 2021 had order volumes in excess of 100 billion pounds. The DMO has sold 21.9 billion pounds of gilts out of a target of 237.8 billion pounds for the financial year which started in April.

☆ UK house prices show weak rise in April, Rightmove says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Asking prices for property being put on sale in Britain over the past month rose less than normal for the time of year, figures from property website Rightmove showed on Monday, adding to signs of more subdued momentum in the property market. Rightmove said that average asking prices were up by 0.2% over the month, less than the average 1.2% gain seen at this time of year. Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were 1.7% higher, down from a 3.0% annual increase a month earlier. Rightmove said transaction volumes were now back to around the level they were before the start of the pandemic. ($1 = 0.8045 pounds)Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK lenders see weak mortgage lending, but no wider credit crunch: BoE
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lenders signalled that loan spreads - the additional interest that banks charge to borrowers over and above the market rate - were likely to narrow in the second quarter. The BoE said lenders plan to restrict the supply of secured lending to households in the second quarter, with mortgage approvals data already showing signs of a sharp slowdown. While that may weaken housing market activity in the months ahead, the survey showed lenders expect to increase the supply of consumer credit and maintain existing levels of corporate lending in the coming months. The quarterly Credit Conditions Survey also showed rising default rates across mortgages, consumer credit and corporate loans during the first quarter. Lenders expected them to rise further in the second quarter.

☆ UK housing market weakness continues, improvement on the horizon - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RICS's gauges of buyer demand, sales, new listings and house prices were all in negative territory last month. However, its indicators looking ahead pointed to hints of stability in Britain's housing market in the coming 12 months. The sales expectations balance for 12 months' time rose to +1, its highest since March 2022. Mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 3.1% drop in house prices in the year to March - the fastest annual fall since July 2009 - while rival Halifax said prices grew 1.6% year-on-year. Its non-seasonally adjusted monthly tenant demand growth indicator hit a five-month high, with a net balance of +46.

☆ UK house prices rise for 3rd month in a row, Halifax says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - British house prices rose for a third month in a row in March, representing a further calming of the market after the turmoil sparked by former Prime Minister Liz Truss's "mini-budget" last September, data from mortgage lender Halifax showed. House prices rose by 0.8% in month-on-month terms, Halifax said on Thursday, the second-strongest gain since June last year after February's 1.2% increase. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.3% drop on the month. House prices were 1.6% higher than a year ago. But other indicators, such as the BoE's mortgage approvals data and a measure of asking prices compiled by property company Rightmove, have suggested the market has become more stable in recent months.

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