Panmure Liberum is a leading force in UK Investment Banking

Last week the leader of the UK opposition, Kemi Badenoch, described the economics of Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, as her “template” for government. I will leave it to Westminster strategists to determine the wisdom of namechecking a country that most older Britons relate to in the context of the Falklands War, or Maradona’s Hand of God goal in the 1986 football World Cup. But as a signal that the next UK general election will offer the electorate genuine economic choices, the explicit namecheck of Milei and his program for reforming the Argentinian economy was a significant moment.

By Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research 

Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its latest update on the long-term outlook for the UK public finances. It was a sobering read. An ageing population, a rapidly changing climate, and the costs of maintaining the nation’s infrastructure are going to put strain on the UK budget for decades to come.

By Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research 

Twelve months on from Labour’s General Election landslide, it is a good time to ditch the slogans and soundbites – and I am afraid there will be plenty of those this week - and assess what the latest economic data says about Labour’s stewardship of the UK economy. From my standpoint their record is neither disastrous, nor dazzling. There is a credible argument that things could have been considerably worse given the structural challenges inherited from the Conservatives. Yet a series of policy missteps - some of them avoidable - have needlessly sapped momentum. In essence, Labour’s first year has been defined less by a transformative economic mission and more by steady progress, punctuated by damaging miscalculation.