Rachel Reeves’ choice of language to describe the conservative economic narrative and the timing of her intervention is strange.
‘Gaslighting’ is a buzzword with obscure origins and meaning. It has little resonance for ordinary citizens.
Reeves wants this to suggest that the Conservatives are talking nonsense (a word people might understand) when they refer to the UK economy turning the corner.
The markets do not agree with Reeves. The FTSE 100 hit another record high in recent trading and is catching up with Nasdaq activity this year.
Share prices may not be the best barometer of economic performance, but global investors would not pile money into UK shares unless they believed conditions were improving.
Out of ideas: Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer
British interest rates are expected to fall sooner than those across the Atlantic.
We should know more about this tomorrow, when the minutes of the Bank of England’s latest interest rate setting committee are published.
The cost of fixed-rate mortgages is falling and Barclays is among those offering competitive new rates.
When it comes to the real economy of output and employment, Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data shows more evidence “that the economic recovery is taking hold,” according to EY Item Club, which uses a model similar to that of the Treasure.
The construction sector PMI rose sharply from 50.2 in March to 53 in April. Last week’s service sector data was healthy.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes that in the final quarter of last year, when the economy technically contracted, real household income rose 0.5 percent, which should help boost growth. consumer spending.
EY’s current forecast points to a 0.4 per cent rise in output in the first quarter of the year when official figures are published later this week.
The Labor Party clearly believes it is on course to win with its narrative about gaslighting and Tories collapsing the economy.
This worked at the doors during the municipal and regional mayoral elections, but with each passing day it moves away from reality.
It may be too late to change the political direction. However, the bigger question for Reeves and Keir Starmer is “where is the problem?”
Reeves cites planning reform and the creation of a British wealth fund to invest in large British companies as supporting growth. Anything that subjects rocket fuel to archaic UK planning rules will be welcomed.
The difficulty of overcoming “Nimbyism” and galvanizing weak local authorities should not be underestimated. There is a need to explain more where the new capital will come from to support the endowment funds.
What’s missing in all of this is what George Bush Sr. once described as “the question of vision.”
Behind the scenes, Labor advisers are believed to be working on a new industrial strategy or mission to replace what Boris Johnson abandoned.
Someone, somewhere needs to defend science, artificial intelligence, software, gaming, pharmaceutical research and all the other things the UK is so good at.
Former Labor leaders Harold Wilson and Tony Blair had that vision.
So far, Starmer and Reeves spend most of their time looking back at the economy and paddling back on promises like the Green New Deal and the wrong new deal for workers. It is not a strategy to quicken the pulse.
power play
Good things are happening. Japan’s Softbank is not the model of the last decade after dragging semiconductor pioneer Arm onto the Nasdaq.
Now he has resurfaced, leading a billion-dollar (£800m) funding for self-driving car startup Wayve in the UK.
The head of the Founders Forum, Brent Hoberman, considers it the largest artificial intelligence (AI) company in Europe.
Britain has a history of creating technology companies, but it has proven useless in turning companies into national champions.
The UK must follow the Americans’ lead and firmly roll out its own National Security and Investment Act. Powers so great, so little used.
