Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics’s latest report. December, when the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent (the market consensus had been 0.1 per cent), was the saving grace. This helped tip the final quarter of 2024 onto the
Has Rachel Reeves broken her fiscal rules? It’s been speculated for some time now that the Chancellor lost her headroom when borrowing costs surged last month. Capital Economics forecast at the start of the year that Reeves’s limited headroom (about £10 billion) had been wiped out by rising gilt yields. This left the Chancellor in
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The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the third time since the inflation crisis, taking the base rate to 4.5 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee voted by seven to two to further reduce rates by 0.25 percentage points – a move that was widely expected by markets, but had been put into
The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the third time since the inflation crisis, taking the base rate to 4.5 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee voted by seven to two to further reduce rates by 0.25 percentage points – a move that was widely expected by markets, but had been put into doubt
What are the real intentions of Donald Trump’s trade war? Does he really believe tariffs work to boost economic growth domestically? Does he see them as tools to prop up American businesses, as his Vice President does? Or, as in his first term, are threats of import levies almost purely about leverage – and if
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The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews and Social Democratic Party leader William Clouston join Freddy Gray to try and make sense of Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. He has since threatened the European Union, and has warned the UK. Is this a negotiation tactic or something more? What political
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Trump’s tariff spree continues… After making good on his election promise to opt for another round of tariffs – a 25 per cent tax on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods – Trump has now turned his attention to Europe. In an interview with the BBC, the president
North America is now engaged in a full-blown trade war. Markets are reacting. Japan’s Nikkei was the first to indicate the downturn, falling 2.9 per cent this morning, while early trading on the FTSE is down 1.1 per cent. It’s not the cataclysmic shock some were expecting, though also not the ‘FANTASTIC’ response the President
He did it, Joe! Following on from the $79 billion worth of tariffs he implemented in his first term – which went largely untouched by Joe Biden’s Administration – last night Donald Trump made good on his election promise to opt for another round of tariffs: this time, a 25 per cent tax on imports
No one can really act surprised if Donald Trump pushes ahead with substantial tariffs on Canada and Mexico tomorrow. ‘Tariff’ is the President’s favourite word, as he said many times on the campaign trail in the lead up to last November’s US election. The only words that could compete for the top slot were ‘love’ and
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Today was the day for Rachel Reeves, as she delivered her big growth speech in Oxfordshire. This was not this government’s first attempt to pivot towards a more business-friendly, growth-generating narrative, but it was its best effort. The headline announcement is, of course, a third runway at Heathrow, throwing her support behind the ‘badly needed’
Has Rachel Reeves got her growth? Today’s speech from the Chancellor in Oxfordshire was not this government’s first attempt to pivot towards a more business-friendly, growth-generating narrative. But it was its best effort yet. Starting with the highlights. Reeves threw her unabashed support behind a third runway at Heathrow, insisting that the expansion was ‘badly
On the face of it, the Chancellor’s big growth speech tomorrow could be one of this government’s most significant interventions yet. If Rachel Reeves is serious about starting the building process for a third runway at Heathrow – she is expected to endorse the idea formally tomorrow – she will be single-handedly overturning more than
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Starmer and Trump have finally spoken, with a 45 minute phone call taking place between the two leaders. The pair reportedly discussed the ceasefire in Gaza, and trade and the economy, with Starmer attempting to find common ground by talking up his plans for deregulation. Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about
We’ve heard more from the 47th President of the United States this week than we heard from his predecessor over many months. But Donald Trump has always loved the spotlight: especially when he gets to rile up all his favourite people. This was on full display this week when, rather than winding down from his
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Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. All the former leaders of the free world were there to watch Trump take the oath – again – but how was this inauguration different to the last? And what signs were there of how Trump intends to govern? Guest hosting
‘The golden age begins right now’ said the 47th President of the United States as he began his inauguration speech in the Capitol Rotunda. What followed was a 30-minute speech, during which Donald Trump stayed both on script and on message, reiterating his promise to declare a border crisis, deport foreign criminals, return America’s title
It’s fitting that Donald Trump’s inauguration day coincides with the first day of the World Economic Forum’s infamous Davos conference. The new and the old world orders are, in theory, competing for attention. But this is not a competition. It’s not even close. This year’s conference theme is ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’: an idea
Millions of Americans will have tried to follow their routine this morning: turn off the alarm, grab the phone, start to scroll. For TikTok users, there will have been a moment of false hope: the shortest clip of a video starts to play, before the notification pops up that everyone was expecting , but no
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It’s been a tricky week for Rachel Reeves: an onslaught of criticism for the levels of borrowing costs, GDP at 0.1 per cent, and stagflation still gripping the UK economy. Remarkably she has come out of it looking stronger – politically at least. But can she afford to celebrate? The Spectator’s Kate Andrews and data
