About this episode
Like a patient on the operating table with no pulse, the UK economy is barely growing. Prime Minister, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are desperately banging on the chest of the patient trying to revive it, but they don’t know how to bring it back to life. December figures show that the economy barely grew by just 0.1%. They talk of growth, but where is it going to come from? 10,000 millionaires have quit the UK in the last six months! China’s economy grew by 5% last year. Watch video version - https://youtu.be/FgXuoDMFE3c Retail sales were down in December! I’ve never heard of retail sales falling over Christmas. More inflation is expected as UK borrowing costs and bond yields have risen sharply. The country’s additional borrowing costs will run to £12 billion per annum. Paid by us, taxpayers of course. Governments screw up, we foot the bill. This could mean higher interest rates and higher mortgage costs for all of us at a time, and the Bank of England should be cutting rates. The market has lost confidence in the UK chancellor Rachel Reeves. She is out of her depth and reminds me the person that talks a good game and job interview but in reality hasn’t got a clue when they’ve got the job. Labour have got off to the worst start and any government I’ve never known. They want to give away the Chagos islands to Mauritius, and then lease it back at a cost of £9 billion! I’ve heard of sale and leaseback, but not “give” and leaseback. This will surely be remembered as the Prime Minister’s “Gordon Brown” moment. Gordon Brown was the Labour chancellor who sold off the U.K.’s gold reserves to China at rock bottom prices. Gold has risen by at least 10 times since the ill-fated sell-off. They inexplicably cut the small winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners, taxed private school fees, and raised national insurance costs for employers, taxed our farmers and borrowed an additional £145 billion, all of which have made them hugely unpopular. And yet, the FT 100 index, reached a record level today! Apparently they expect interest rates to be cut by 0.25% when the Bank of England meet next month Will the Bank of England hold or cut rates next month? The implications are huge for the country and for the 700,000 borrowers who will come off fixed interest rates this year, as well as the first-time buyers who want to go on the property ladder. Buy to let property investment has become almost unviable, unless you have a large deposit or buying cheap properties up in the north-east. Some good news could be on the horizon for first time buyers as regulators are expected to relax lending rules. However, could this lead to another boom and bust? The massive building firm Taylor Wimpey has reported good profits of over £400 million
