Like a climate scientist at an airshow, our new government stands accused of ruining everyone’s fun by droning on about reality. Business groups have begun to warn that Starmer and Reeves’ repeated use of phrases like “black hole” and “pain” are causing a dent in confidence that could actually harm the economy. Can anyone really talk a country into recession?
The latest intervention came in a speech to the CBI’s annual dinner in Glasgow last night, in which the business lobby group’s CEO, Rain Newton-Smith, warned that investment in the UK was not being helped by the government’s aggressive Eeyorism: “We get the need to take a hard look at the economy,” she said, “but at the same time, I think the more we focus on that difficult inheritance, the harder it is in global boardrooms to make the pitch to invest in, come to, and stay in the UK. I think we must also have, and offer, hope.”
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