Chancellor Rachel Reeves to join celebrities and world leaders at WEF Davos to drum up support for UK economy
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will travel to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week to court potential investors in UK growth projects, joining hundreds of political and economic leaders gathering in the Swiss Alps in the shadow of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Ms Reeves will join political leaders including German chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and a vice premier of the Chinese Communist Party, with the agenda likely to be set by Mr Trump’s opening gambits in office.
The incoming president had promised the imposition of tariffs on imports, and while they did not feature in the day-one commitments at his inauguration, his second term carries the threat of upending global trade and fundamentally altering America’s security commitments.
Money blog: Pound surges after Trump omission
Mr Trump will address the event remotely at the end of proceedings on Thursday, and before then the WEF will provide a platform for the first public reaction from international political leaders to his plans.
Perhaps as important for the 4,000 or so delegates is the opportunity it provides for private meetings and bilateral conversations.
The chancellor’s focus during a 36-hour visit will be on drumming up investment and reassuring potential partners about the stability of the UK economy and the viability of her plans for growth.
Davos Pic: AP
Those plans have been under scrutiny since the turn of the year after fluctuations in debt markets forced the cost of government borrowing up, in turn threatening the fiscal rules Ms Reeves says are central to her credibility.
While largely driven up by international factors, particularly the impact of Mr Trump’s policies, borrowing costs receded at the end of last week after better-than-expected UK inflation figures, easing the short-term political pressure.
What’s on the agenda?
Ms Reeves does not feel she has anything to apologise for following the bumpy start to 2025, but Davos offers her an opportunity to make the case publicly and privately for her plans, with the hope of securing some tangible investment commitments.
She will meet leading financiers convened by JP Morgan and its chief executive Jamie Dimon, investors including the chief executive of OTTP, a leading Canadian pension fund, and address the country strategic dialogue, a private meeting of more than 80 executives, and attend a lunch arranged by business lobby group the CBI.
She will also give a round of interviews to international media outlets in which she will stress her plans to stabilise the economy, reform public services, and begin the structural supply-side reforms she believes are fundamental to encouraging growth.
She will not be alone in seeking to leverage the unique convening power of the annual meeting to her advantage. More than 50 heads of state and as many finance ministers will be in Davos, drawn by the presence of three times as many chief executives and chairs of major companies, corporations and wealth funds.
While public sessions will be dominated by discussion of current opportunities and challenges, including the ubiquitous AI, privately the event offers the 4,000 delegates a chance to speed-date with their peers.
David Beckham and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg will lend a little celebrity to an event that remains overwhelmingly earnest and self-assured.
Now in its 54th year, the WEF has been a crucible for the principles of globalisation and the liberal economic consensus, which maintains that only open markets and cooperation can deliver profit, prosperity and social justice.
Its immodest mission, set out by founder Klaus Schwab and featuring on the merchandise handed to participants, remains “committed to improving the state of the world”.
Not on the agenda is the question of whether the annual gathering of the billionaire class – Davos’ private jet traffic is notorious- has achieved that goal.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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