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Jacob Rees-Mogg has declared his confidence in the governor of the Bank of England, but disputed that pension funds are at “systemic” risk.

Speaking to Sky News, the business secretary said “of course” he has confidence in Andrew Bailey, describing him as “respected”.

He questioned, however, whether there was a “systemic problem” with pensions after the Bank of England expanded its market intervention to help pension funds for the second time in two days on Tuesday by buying up index-linked gilts.

Bank confirms market support to end – politics latest

The Bank had warned of a “material risk to UK financial stability” with “fire sales” of assets if it did not act.

The business secretary said that on the whole, pension funds “aren’t at risk”, but added: “Some pension funds have taken some high risk investments.”

He told Sky News that the “rightly independent” Bank intervened to protect these “risky investments”.

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The Bank confirmed yesterday that its emergency support operation to protect pension funds would end this week.

Mr Rees-Mogg repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether the Bank was right to signal an end to its market intervention.

“I’m not going to criticise the Bank of England or the governor,” he said. “It is not for me to speculate on what the Bank of England is doing.”

He also insisted to Kay Burley that parts of the economy were in a “good state” as he admitted that after the economic turmoil of recent weeks his own mortgage payments have gone up.

“Mortgage rates have gone up for everyone who has a mortgage, and I have a mortgage,” he said.

“Any floating rate mortgages have gone up.”

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Kwarteng’s options for national debt

‘Be careful about forecasts’

Earlier this morning, new Office for National Statistics figures indicated that the economy shrank by 0.3% between July and August, a fall from downwardly revised growth of 0.1% the previous month.

Mr Rees-Mogg urged caution in interpreting them.

“The previous quarter’s figure showed a contraction [and] was then revised to show economic growth. So, be very careful about how you interpret figures immediately after they’re released,” he told Sky News.

“It’s a small amount of a very large economy, but these figures are notorious for being revised afterwards.”

The business secretary also refused to indicate his own view on whether benefits should rise in line with inflation, an issue that has split the Conservative Party.

“We haven’t yet had the inflation figure on which benefits will be set. So, that is something that will be decided once the figure is available,” he said.

“Most predictions, most economic forecasts, turn out to be inaccurate rather than spot on. So, one has got to be careful about forecasts.”

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Are we set for another era of austerity?

‘Routine decision-making’

Mr Rees-Mogg said the decision on benefits would be made once inflation figures come out.

“There is a process for making this decision,” he said.

“The statutory instrument has to be laid in November to put through the increase. That will be done in the normal way. This is completely routine governmental decision-making.”

In the Commons on Tuesday Julian Smith, a former cabinet minister, warned Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, that the government must not balance tax cuts “on the back of the poorest people in our country”.

The government has already been forced to abandon plans to scrap the top 45p rate of tax in the face of a threatened revolt.

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Liz Truss, the prime minister, will face MPs in the Commons on Wednesday for the first time since Mr Kwarteng’s £43bn tax-cutting mini-budget caused economic turmoil.

On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund warned that Mr Kwarteng’s package of unfunded tax cuts was making it harder for the Bank to get soaring inflation rates under control.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned the chancellor he will have to find £60bn in public spending cuts if he persists with his tax plans.

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Jaguar Land Rover to ‘pause’ US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

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Jaguar Land Rover to 'pause' US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.

JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.

Follow live updates: Trump’s baseline 10% tariff kicks in

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.

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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.

Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

Read more: A red wall on Wall Street – but Trump seems to believe it will work out

Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.

Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.

In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.

Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.

They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.

The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.

Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.

Two fire crews remain at the scene.

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Boy dies after ‘getting into difficulty’ in lake in southeast London

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Boy dies after 'getting into difficulty' in lake in southeast London

A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.

Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.

The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.

“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.

The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.

The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.

In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.

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google street view inside Beckenham Place park, Lewisham where a 16 y/o boy is missing after getting into difficulty in a lake
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Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon

Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.

The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.

It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.

“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”

Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.

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