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☆ The British Army has shrunk to its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The British Army has shrunk to its lowest level since the early 1800s. That's a far cry from the Chinese army of 2 million soldiers, Russia's 1.3 million, or the 460,000 active-duty troops of the US Army. "As things stand, the British Army is a one-trick pony," Nicholas Drummond, a British defense expert and former infantry officer, told Business Insider. AdvertisementIn 1989, the British Army had 156,000 soldiers, or more than twice its present size. "Right now, the British Army cannot generate a single division, let alone two," Drummond said.

Persons: —, Napoleon, Nicholas Drummond, Rudyard Kipling, Tommy, Chuck, Drummond, Keir Starmer, Conservative government's, It's, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, British Army, US Army, Business, Britain's Army, NATO, Royal Navy, Treasury, Army, Labor, Conservative, Royal Air Force, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Romania, Bangladesh, Canada, Armenia, Russia, Washington, DC, Ukraine, British, Forbes

☆ CNBC Daily Open: U.S. manufacturing struggles to recover
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Workers assemble printed circuit boards at the Intervala manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. The CSI 300 was lower as investors focused on China's annual meetings and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also fell. "Those names are being driven by earnings," Niles told CNBC last week.

Persons: Hong, Dow, Energy's, Jorge Leon, Jeremy Hunt, Dan Niles, Niles Organizations: US, Bureau, CNBC, Nikkei, CSI, Nasdaq, Budget, Conservative, Labour, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft Locations: Mount Pleasant , Pennsylvania, U.S, China, Beijing, Angola

☆ 'Last chance saloon': UK finance minister expected to pledge pre-election tax cuts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said earlier this month the U.K. would not enter a recession this year. LONDON — Economists expect U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt to use a small fiscal windfall to deliver a modest package of tax cuts at his Spring Budget on Wednesday. However, the big questions over tax cuts remain heading into Wednesday's statement. Raja suggested the finance minister will err on the side of caution in loosening fiscal policy, favoring supply side support over boosting demand. "Therefore, tax cuts to national insurance contributions (NICs) and changes to child benefits are more likely to come in the Spring Budget (in contrast to earlier expectations of income tax cuts)."

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, Sanjay Raja, Raja Organizations: British, LONDON, Finance, Budget, Conservative, Labour Party, Treasury, Independent, Deutsche Bank, Bank of England

Research shows women in richer economies are more likely to have children if they work. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - Italy's first female premier - has said women are "an untapped resource" that lessens the need for immigrant labour. Yet her conservative government's 2024 budget, to be presented on Monday, is not expected to include measures to drive change. According to a government report relating to 2021, nearly one in five Italian women aged under 50 left their job after having their first child. SPANISH SUCCESSMeloni's government could learn from Spain, whose female activity rate lagged Italy's in the early 1990s but is now above the EU average.

Persons: Guzzo, Vittoria, Claudia Greco, Elena, Claudia Goldin, Giorgia Meloni, Claudia Olivetti, Enza Guzzo, Gian Carlo Blangiardo, Blangiardo, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Olivetti, Paola Profeta, Katharine Neiss, Valentina Za, Elisa Anzolin, Giuseppe Fonte, Catherine Evans Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Reuters, Research, Dartmouth College, ISTAT, Bank of, EU, France's, Milan's Bocconi University, AXA Research, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Arese, Italy, MILAN, Bank of Italy, Rome, Barcelona, Spain, Milan

☆ UK grocery inflation cools to lowest level in a year -Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery inflation was 12.2% in the four weeks to Sept. 3, down from 12.7% in its August report. The Kantar data going into September provides the most up-to-date snapshot of UK grocery inflation. Official data published last month showed overall inflation in July was 6.8%, with food inflation at 14.9%. Kantar said UK grocery sales rose 7.4% over the four-week period on a value basis. UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)Source: KantarReporting by James Davey; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kantar, Fraser McKevitt, James Davey, Leslie Adler Organizations: Conservative, Bank of England, Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl, Thomson

☆ UK grocery inflation continues downward trajectory -Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery inflation was 14.9% in the four weeks to July 9, falling 1.6 percentage points from the 16.5% in its June data set. The Conservative government's key pledge to halve inflation in 2023 ahead of a probable election in 2024 has been undermined by stubbornly high food inflation. The Kantar data going into July provides the most up to date snapshot of UK grocery inflation. Official data for overall UK inflation in June will be published on Wednesday. The researcher said UK grocery sales rose 10.4% over the four week period year-on-year on a value basis.

Persons: Kantar, Fraser McKevitt, James Davey, Aurora Ellis Organizations: LONDON, Conservative, Bank of England, Tesco, Iceland Foods, Aldi, Lidl, Thomson

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - As Thames Water's financial troubles raise questions about such investments, Britain will next week try to persuade pension schemes to plough billions of pounds into infrastructure and start-ups in its next leg of post-Brexit reforms. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt will on Monday set out the government's latest thinking on getting cash locked up in pension pots to work in the economy. The Conservative government's long-trailed policy focuses on persuading pension schemes to invest a portion of their money in infrastructure, start-ups and 'green' technology. But the problems at Thames Water, which is battling for survival under 14 billion pounds ($18 billion) of debt, would leave some pension schemes that had made large investments in it embarrassed, said independent pensions consultant John Ralfe. The finance ministry had no immediate comment on Hunt's speech, but the pensions industry has already said it opposes mandatory investment quotas.

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, John Ralfe, Ralfe, Nobody, Huw Jones, Alexander Smith Organizations: Thames, British, Conservative, Amsterdam, London, EU, Thomson Locations: Britain, London's, New York, London

☆ Greek economy to grow 2.2% in 2023, prudence pivotal - cenbank chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ATHENS, April 7 (Reuters) - Greece's economy will grow by 2.2% in 2023, its central bank chief said on Friday, urging the country to stick to the path of reform and fiscal prudence as it enters a period of increased political uncertainty due to elections. Greece will hold a general election on May 21, weeks before the conservative government's term ends. But the vote is unlikely to produce a clear winner, setting the stage for protracted political manoeuvring and a runoff vote. His latest growth projection upwardly revises an earlier central bank estimate for economic expansion of 1.5% this year from 5.9% 2022, reflecting Greece's fiscal progress. "Since 2023 is a year of national elections, to maintain the climate of confidence in the prospects of the Greek economy, prudence and responsibility is required from political forces, that need to support the country's fiscal goals," he said.

☆ 'Bregret'? Many Brits are suffering from Brexit regret
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Polling suggests that a majority of Brits now think that the U.K. was wrong to leave the European Union. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty ImagesLONDON — Almost seven years and four prime ministers since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, polling suggests public sentiment has turned against Brexit. "The second thing is the increasing number of leave and other voters who are coming to see Brexit as having had negative economic impacts." But longer-term factors played a role, and he suggested that a lengthy stagnation in living standards, partly caused by the austerity policies introduced by David Cameron's government, contributed to the anger unleashed across working-class communities in the Brexit vote. Brexit being 'redefined' Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a landslide election victory in 2019 with a promise to "get Brexit done," touting an "oven-ready" withdrawal agreement he had negotiated with the European Union.

☆ British finance minister races back to London as pressure builds for another policy U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — U.K. Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng cut short his visit to the International Monetary Fund this week, dashing back to London amid reports Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering a U-turn on parts of her government's market-rocking tax cuts. Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources, that the finance minister planned to meet with colleagues to work on the government's medium-term budget plan. Kwarteng's abrupt departure from a series of international finance meetings in Washington, D.C. comes amid a growing political backlash against the Conservative government's proposed tax cuts. The British pound rose by 2% to trade at $1.1319 on Thursday, shrugging off stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data. Meanwhile, long-dated U.K. government bonds — known as gilts — rallied on Friday morning, with 30-year yields trading at 4.38%.

☆ Swiss National Bank makes another large draw on Fed swap line
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 13 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank this week drew nearly $6.3 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve's currency swap line facility, roughly double the amount drawn a week earlier, New York Fed data released on Thursday showed. A week earlier it drew $3.1 billion at the same term and rate. They are available also to the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England and Bank of Canada and allow those banks to deliver dollar-funding to financial institutions in their own jurisdictions. The ECB was the only other central bank making a swap trade with the Fed this week. It drew $211.5 million, up from $206.5 million a week earlier but in the range of the ECB's typical weekly draw over the last year.

☆ The UK's abrupt tax cuts are sowing market chaos — and putting policymakers in a no-win situation that threatens economic crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The UK government's plan to slash taxes and stimulate economic growth has backfired spectacularly. The episode risks lifting inflation higher still and levying new economic pain on all Britons. What was introduced as an effort to boost the UK's economic growth is backfiring to an extraordinary degree. The blowback could range from a weaker British pound to a government default, even higher inflation, higher unemployment, a bigger wealth gap, and a crippling recession. According to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, the aim was to lift the struggling UK economy and cut the risk of a near-term downturn.

LONDON — If anyone thought Britain was due a period of calm after Boris Johnson’s tumultuous premiership, no one told his successor. But the proposed solution by new Prime Minister Liz Truss has quickly sent the economy spiraling into chaos, threatening consequences both immediate and long-lasting for many Britons. Prime Minister Liz Truss's government unveiled a financial plan last week that sparked market concern and public criticism. The nose-diving pound will also make everyday products in Britain more expensive as importers face spiraling costs. It wants to supercharge Britain’s sluggish economy by any means necessary — even if that means short-term shocks.

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is interviewed outside the BBC in London, Britain, October 24, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File PhotoLIVERPOOL, England, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain's Labour Party will unveil on Monday its plans to set up a national wealth fund to invest in green projects which will benefit the public, part of the opposition party's answer to the Conservative government's tax-cutting approach. The so-called mini-budget has opened up a divide between Prime Minister Liz Truss's Conservatives and the Labour Party of Keir Starmer, who wants to use the years before an expected election in 2024 to prove his team is ready for power. "That is a real plan for growth," she will say, taking aim at the "Growth Plan" presented by finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, when Labour accused him of prioritising the wealthy over working people struggling with rising prices by turning to the discredited theory of "trickle-down economics". Ed Miliband, Labour's climate policy chief, said Labour's plans would return jobs to Britain.

REUTERS/Peter NichollsLONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Britain's main opposition Labour Party criticised the Conservative government's economic plans on Friday, describing the new prime minister and finance minister as "two desperate gamblers in a casino" who had run out of ideas. "The prime minister and chancellor (finance minister) are like two desperate gamblers in a casino chasing a losing run," she told parliament. Taking aim at the lack of independent scrutiny of the government's plans, Reeves described Kwarteng's statement as "a budget without figures, a menu without prices". While Labour and other opposition lawmakers were biting in their criticism of the government's fiscal statement, supporters of Britain's new government hailed its radicalism. Some said previous Conservative governments, in power for 12 years with five of them in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, should have adopted the policies a long time ago.

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