Good morning.
It’s a baptism of fire for new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who has been criticized over his plans for the UK economy on his first day in office.
Mr Zahawi, who was appointed after the dramatic resignation of Rishi Sunak last night, said: “I will look at everything. Nothing is off the table.”
He hinted at cutting corporate tax, saying: “I want to make sure we are as competitive as possible while maintaining fiscal discipline.”
But the new chancellor said his top priority was “recovery and economic growth” as rising inflation and the threat of recession put increasing pressure on British households.
5 things to start your day with
1) Scooter couriers face their latest delivery amid green push Safety and environmental concerns question whether delivery scooters will survive in a post-pandemic world.
2) Strike threat to UK gas supplies averted after Norway intervenes The Government took action last night to prevent strikes that would have put UK gas supplies at risk.
3) Jeremy Warner: We must not follow China into an endless blockade nightmare
4) German drugmaker accused of stealing Covid vaccine technology CureVac claims BioNTech took the mRNA technology behind the UK’s Covid booster shot.
5) Heathrow faces further summer travel chaos as staff return to July strike The union has warned of “significant delays” as loading staff walk out for three days.
What happened in one night
Hong Kong shares were lower in early trade today, with the Shanghai Composite index losing 0.4%
The Shenzhen Composite index on China’s second bourse was down 0.3% and the Hang Seng index was down 0.4%.
Tokyo stocks opened lower, with the Nikkei 225 index losing 0.8%.
It’s due today
Corporate: Redde Northgate (full year results); Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Intermediate); Ten Entertainment, Robert Walters (Commercial Update)
Economy: Composite PMI, Services PMI (US); retail sales, economic growth forecasts (EU); construction PMI (UK)
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