LABOUR TO WARN ON NEED FOR PUBLIC SPENDING CONSTRAINTS

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to warn that the UK will face "huge constraints" on public spending if his party wins the next general election (BBC News).  

In a speech to be given today to the Resolution Foundation, Sir Keir will say that he thinks the UK is its worst economic state in more than half a century and that Labour would not “turn on the spending taps” (The Guardian).  

UK URGED TO USE STRENGTH IN SERVICES TO INCREASE LIVING STANDARDS 

UK living standards have fallen far behind a group of five peer countries, according to research by the Centre for Economic Performance and the Resolution Foundation (Financial Times). The think-tanks said that the country needs to capitalise on its real strengths in service industries such as education, banking, the arts, and architecture to address the fall in living standards. 

The report highlighted that if the UK closed the average income gap to the levels of countries like Germany and France, the typical household would be £8,300 better off (City A.M).  

NEWS IN BRIEF

Average house prices in the UK will fall by one per cent next year as competition increases among sellers, Rightmove has forecast (The Guardian). 

The prime minister has suggested further tax cuts are on the way because the economy has “turned a corner,” but would not comment on specifics. He was speaking to journalists on the plane as he flew to Dubai for COP28 (Sky News).  

The increase in the national living wage, alongside increases to commercial property taxes, is likely to result in higher prices, lower investment and fewer jobs, according to a number of retail and hospitality leaders (The Times). 

The number of free-to-use cash machines will drop in the next few years as credit and debit cards become the default payment method, the chief executive of Link, the UK’s ATM network, has said (The Telegraph).