Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday sought to contain an extraordinary political crisis, denying accusations that he had authorised Downing Street staff to brief against health secretary Wes Streeting. Government insiders claim Streeting has been gunning for the top job, a rumour Streeting fiercely denies.
This morning’s GDP data will not have helped the mood in Numbers 10-11. The UK economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% in September and grew by just 0.1% across the third quarter of 2025 following a downgrade to August’s number. September was particularly tough for the manufacturing sector, with a cyber attack halting production at Jaguar Land Rover and weighing on output.
The last few days have exposed the Labour government’s factional fault lines ahead of the autumn Budget. As the chancellor prepares to raise taxes and break a manifesto promise, several ministers appear to be very much on covert manoeuvres, jostling for position should Rachel Reeves be forced to resign. The worry now is that this will be enough to bring down the entire Starmer government and cause chaos for the pound.
Machiavelli’s long shadow extended across the Atlantic. The silver lining for the Democrats in their capitulation in the Senate earlier this week was that it ultimately forced a vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
That vote will now take place next week after President Trump signed the spending bill that ended the longest government shutdown in US history. Government will reopen for business 44 days after shuttering and following widespread chaos at the country’s airports.
Enough politics? Us too. Despite all number of worries, business confidence in the UK actually edged up last month, per S&P’s study. UK firms were “moderately hopeful” of better conditions over the next year, although expectations are still below the post-2008 average.
Wednesday was a productive day for Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index, which hit a record high on lower interest rate expectations. The biggest move came from energy provider SSE, up almost 17% after announcing a £33 billion investment in UK electricity networks.
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