Why UK's economic growth has been downgraded
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has downgraded the UK 's economic growth forecast due to rising costs and weak business investment, impacting the government 's growth ambitions.
The CBI now projects the UK economy to grow by 1.2 per cent this year, down from its previous forecast of 1.6 per cent, and has also lowered the 2026 growth forecast from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent
Higher employment costs, stemming from the autumn budget's increases to national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage, have led to higher pricing and reduced capital expenditure and hiring among firms, according to the CBI.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride criticised Labour 's policies, claiming that higher employment costs are killing growth.
The CBI's chief economist, Louise Hellem, emphasised the need for the government to use its industrial strategy to drive a thriving environment for businesses, given the challenges posed by domestic and global headwinds.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
Legacy of past hangs over anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland
BELFAST, June 18 (Reuters) - Bullets and bombs were a part of life in the Belfast that Raied al-Wazzan moved to from Iraq in 1990, but he never felt threatened as a member of one of the divided region's tiny ethnic minorities. But after a week when masked anti-immigrant rioters attacked police and set the homes of migrants on fire, fear has set in. "There are certain areas I cannot go by myself or even drive through," said Al-Wazzan, the vice-chair of the Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality, an umbrella group for a number of organisations representing ethnic minorities. "I used to live in some of these areas, but today it's not safe for me or (my) family or people who have a different colour of skin." The eruption of what police described as mob-led "racist thuggery" is particularly dangerous in Northern Ireland due to its legacy of sectarian violence and lingering role of paramilitary groups with a history of stoking street disorder. More than 3,600 people were killed between 1968 and 1998 in a conflict between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists seeking Irish unity, predominantly Protestant pro-British "loyalists" wanting to stay in the United Kingdom and the British military. But while segregation along sectarian lines remains common, particularly in housing and education, the number of recorded race hate crimes is now double that of sectarian offences, which they surpassed almost a decade ago, police data shows. "The last week's events have not come out of nowhere," said Patrick Corrigan, the local director of Amnesty International, who knew of women and children fleeing to their attic to breathe through a skylight when rioters lit fires downstairs. "We have a serious problem of endemic racist violence, at times fuelled by paramilitary organisations, a particularly sinister element in this part of the world where you have masked men who have recourse to violence to try to tell people where they're allowed to live or where they're not," Corrigan said. While the 1998 Good Friday Agreement led to the disarming of the main Irish Republican and loyalist militant groups, splinter factions endure. Such groups continue to exert control over some communities through intimidation, financial extortion and drug dealing, and have been involved in racially motivated attacks, the body that monitors paramilitary activity said earlier this year. Corrigan said migrants within WhatsApp groups he is part of were "clearly terrified", reluctant to leave their homes to go to work and their children afraid to walk to school. That sentiment is shared by Nathalie Donnelly, who runs a weekly English class as part of the UNISON trade union's migrant worker project. Half her students were now too scared to attend, she said. "I think we are just one petrol bomb away from a serious loss of life," Corrigan said. The violence flared first and was most intense in Ballymena after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court, accused of a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town. The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court that they denied them. Ballymena, 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Belfast, is a mainly Protestant working-class town that was once the powerbase of Ian Paisley, the fiercely pro-British preacher-politician who died in 2014. Most of the other areas where anti-immigrant violence spread last week - Larne, Newtownabbey, Portadown and Coleraine - were similar, mostly Protestant towns. At the outset of the "Troubles", some Catholics and Protestants were violently forced from their homes in areas where they were in the minority, and sectarian attacks remained common through three decades of violence and the imperfect peace that followed. "Sectarianism and racism have never been very different from each other," said Dominic Bryan, a professor at Queens University Belfast who researches group identity and political violence. "It doesn't totally surprise me that as society changes and Northern Ireland has become a very different society than it was even 30 years ago, that some of this 'out grouping' shifts," Bryan said, adding that such prejudices could also be seen among Irish nationalists. Immigration has historically been low in Northern Ireland, where the years of conflict bred an insular society unused to assimilating outsiders. There are other factors at play too, said Bryan. The towns involved all have big economic problems, sub-standard housing and rely on healthcare and industries such as meat packing and manufacturing that need an increasing migrant workforce. "The people around here, they're literally at a boiling point," said Ballymena resident Neil Brammeld. The town's diverse culture was welcomed and everybody got along, he said, but for problems with "a select few". "The people have been complaining for months and months leading up to this and the police are nowhere to be seen." While around 6% of people in the province were born abroad, with those belonging to ethnic minority groups about half that, the foreign-born population in Ballymena is now much higher, in line with the UK average of 16%. Northern Ireland does not have specific hate crime legislation, although some race-related incidents can be prosecuted as part of wider laws. Justice Minister Naomi Long pledged last year to boost those existing provisions but said the power-sharing government would not have enough time to introduce a standalone hate crime bill before the next election in 2027. While five successive nights of violence mostly came to an end on Saturday, the effects are still being felt. "I'm determined that I'm not going to be chased away from my home," said Ivanka Antova, an organiser of an anti-racism rally in Belfast on Saturday, who moved to Belfast from Bulgaria 15 years ago. "Racism will not win."
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Kneecap band member in court facing terror charge
Protesters wearing balaclavas gathered outside court for the appearance of a member of the band Kneecap. Liam O'Hanna, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at one of their concerts in November 2024. The 27-year-old arrived at Westminster magistrates' court on Wednesday morning following the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London. A handful of Kneecap fans gathered outside the court holding a mixture of Palestinian and Kneecap flags. Police removed a pro-Israel protester who walked into the crowd wearing an Israeli flag, prompting boos, swearing and shouts of 'free Palestine'. The terror charge against O'Hanna has alleged that he displayed a flag for the terror group in a public place 'in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation'. Kneecap described the prosecution as a 'witch hunt' in a post on X on Tuesday evening. The post included a short video showing a billboard that had been displayed in London with the words 'more blacks, more dogs, more Irish, Mo Chara'. The Metropolitan Police said the force had charged Mr O'Hanna after initially being made aware of a video from the gig that had been posted online. In a separate event shortly after the terrorism charge, Mr O'Hanna could be seen in social media videos entering the stage with tape covering his mouth. The Met Police previously said the Belfast rap trio were under investigation after clips posted online appeared to show the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah'.
The Sun
11 minutes ago
- The Sun
Lidl's £7.99 summer essential is a lifesaver during hot sticky journeys – and it's less than half the price of Amazon's
LIDL is selling a £7.99 summer essential that will be a lifesaver on sticky summer commutes. With temperatures set to soar to 29 degrees today and the Met Office warning that a heatwave is likely this weekend, many Brits are likely dreading travelling to work on boiling hot public transport. 3 3 Whether your braving it on the sauna-like London Underground, or toughing it out on an inner-city bus route, you'll want to do all that you can to cool down. And although many public transport systems unfortunately do not have air conditioning, Lidl's Silvercrest Portable Fan is a great way to keep cool whilst on the go. The nifty gadget comes in a variety of different colours, including green and yellow and is priced at just £7.99 making it perfect for anyone trying to pinch pennies. Available in store now, the bargain bit of kit promises to "keep you cool while on the go" and has three speed options, low, medium and high. It also has a tiltable fan head and a practical base, so you can stand the fan up whilst sitting at your desk. The budget buy also comes with a charging cable and a three-year-warranty, so you can guarantee it will keep you cool for years to come. The Lidl product will be located in the middle aisle of your local store. However, it is only available while stocks last, so you better hurry to snap yours up quick. As a price comparison, Lidl's bargain fan is over half the cost of Amazon's Rintea Hand Held Fan, which is currently retailing for £17.99. Both fans are rechargeable, but the Amazon fan has six speed settings. Five Lidl rosés you need this summer, according to a wine expert - a £6.99 buy is as light & crispy as £22 Whispering Angel The Amazon buy also has a digital display, to show the fan speed and the high quality motor promises low noise. For anyone looking for a more substantial fan, Lidl is also currently selling a Silvercrest Tower fan for £69.99, a whopping £280 cheaper than Dyson's £350 bladeless fan. Kimberley took to the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK group on Facebook to share a snap of the fan, as she asked other shoppers: "Has anyone got these from Lidl and are they genuinely any good?" Her post was then flooded with comments, with the majority of people raving over the budget buy. How to keep cool in hot weather Most of us welcome hot weather, but when it's too hot, there are health risks. Here are three ways to keep cool according to the NHS... Keep out of the heat if you can. If you have to go outside, stay in the shade especially between 11am and 3pm, wear sunscreen, a hat and light clothes, and avoid exercise or activity that makes you hotter. Cool yourself down. Have cold food and drinks, avoid alcohol, caffeine and hot drinks, and have a cool shower or put cool water on your skin or clothes. Keep your living space cool. Close windows during the day and open them at night when the temperature outside has gone down. Electric fans can help if the temperature is below 35 degrees. Check the temperature of rooms, especially where people at higher risk live and sleep. "Got ours last year, really good!" one wrote. "Brilliant, you don't need to turn it up high for it to be really effective," another added. Aldi is also selling a Dyson dupe, with its Ambiano Bladeless Fan currently priced at £39.99. The modern design bladeless fan has three speed settings, high, medium, low, plus three modes: normal, nature and sleep. You can customise your sleep with the various modes and tailor it to your own temperature needs during the day - and most importantly, for a good night's sleep at bedtime. Plus, with its bladeless design, it's safe around little people or pets.
