Newslinks for Friday 11th July 2025

UK economy shrinks for second month running

“Rachel Reeves’ waning growth agenda has been dealt another blow after the UK economy contracted 0.1 per cent in May. The Chancellor has endured a bruising few weeks after government U-turns and spending splurges have cut into the fiscal headroom she outlined in the Autumn. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics have confirmed her growth mission was still lagging. May’s results fall short of City economists’ expectations of 0.1 per cent growth. Production marked the steepest drop at 0.9 per cent and construction shrunk 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile services grew just 0.1 per cent. Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The economy contracted slightly in May with notable falls in production and construction only partly offset by growth in services. May’s fall in production was driven by oil and gas extraction, car manufacturing and the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry.” Responding to the figures, Andrew Griffith, Shadow Business Secretary said: “This month’s data shows a clear pattern with business output down, our trade balance worse and the economy shrinking. Try as she might, the Chancellor only has herself to blame. This socialist government doesn’t understand business but must urgently listen to those who do and reverse their onslaught of tax and regulations.”” – CityAM

• UK economy shrank unexpectedly in May – BBC News
• Blow to UK economy as GDP growth FALLS by 0.1% in ‘challenge’ to Rachel Reeves’s fiscal plans – GB News
• Angela Rayner is taking on Rachel Reeves, and she’s winning – Daily Telegraph
• Labour will target rich but won’t call it a wealth tax, minister says – The i

Comment:

• No amount of tears will quell the looming disaster from Reeves’s mistakes – Brian Monteith, Daily Telegraph
• It’s a bit rich Labour raising taxes on this lot – Emma Duncan, The Times
• Tax rises have become inevitable – Michael Simmons, The Spectator
• A wealth tax is a moral abomination. It’s time for Britain to celebrate riches – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday: Mike Newton: Labour has lost the market’s trust, and it is now in vigilante mode

Macron blames Brexit for migrant crisis as hundreds more migrants arrived during Starmer’s policy unveiling

“Emmanuel Macron has blamed Brexit for the Channel migrant crisis as he said the British people had been “sold a lie”. He attacked the 2016 vote as it emerged that a “one in, one out” deal, agreed in principle to return Channel migrants to France, is likely to face significant legal challenges, will initially only see a fraction of illegal arrivals sent back, and is yet to be agreed with the EU. The deal was unveiled hours after The Telegraph witnessed hundreds of migrants being escorted from French shores without being stopped by police, as up to 600 people in small boats crossed the Channel. In a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday, the French president claimed the British people had been “sold a lie” that leaving the EU would “make it possible to fight more effectively against illegal immigration”. nHe added that “our increasing problems require cooperation, a European approach” rather than what “populists often sold”. Saying the UK had “no migratory deal” with the EU after Brexit, Mr Macron said: “It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Sir Keir’s ‘smashing the gangs’ latest: Starmer launches half-baked one-in, one-out deal with Macron’s France that WON’T stop any boats… and even as it was unveiled, HUNDREDS more migrants arrived here – Daily Mail
• Farage: Starmer’s migrant deal ‘humiliation for Brexit Britain’ – Daily Telegraph
• EU could be an obstacle in Keir Starmer’s migrant deal with France – The Times
• Migrants row erupts as UK-France deal would see just 1 in 17 sent back across Channel – The Standard
• The French handed the migrants over – then asked for their life jackets back – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• Robert Jenrick’s migrant returns advice is finally heeded – by a Labour PM – Kiran Stacey and Jessica Elgot, The Guardian
• Keir Starmer bets jaw-jaw can win migration war – Patrick Maguire, The Times
• Migrants deal a win for Starmer – and could help with fight against Reform – Beth Rigby, Sky News
• Starmer and Macron won’t fix the Channel migrant crisis – Gavin Mortimer, The Spectator
• Only a fool like Starmer could fall for Macron – Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph
• The one in, one out migrant deal will be a genuine coup for Starmer – if it actually works – Hugo Gye, The i

> Today: Will the Tory party figure out its ECHR position?

Political divide deepens as Reform claims Tories on their way to defecting, with new-left wing party polling away from Labour

“Nigel Farage has revealed that Reform UK has been speaking to “a few” sitting Conservative MPs about defecting. The party’s leader said an unspecified number were “sort of watching and waiting”. It comes after we revealed that ex-Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry was joining Reform. But Mr Farage insisted he would not allow it to become the “Tory Party 2.0”. He said: “We have to be selective. We’re our own unique brand and we’re also getting a lot of Labour activists and one or two Labour councillors. So there’s a balance here that needs to be struck.” Sir Jake was the second ex-Cabinet Minister this week to join Reform after the former Welsh Secretary David Jones. Blasting defectors, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “A lot of people come into politics just to play the game of politics. They will follow polls and defect wherever they can, like they do in banana republics, to wherever they think they can win.”” – The Sun

• Corbyn’s comeback: A gift for Farage, ‘a bloody nightmare’ for the Greens – Politico
• Meet Reform’s only female MP — Nigel Farage’s secret weapon – The Times
• Top Reform UK councillor was ‘pen friend’ of Al Qaeda 9/11 ‘architect’ – Daily Express

Comment:

• Reform’s momentum is making the political weather – Chris Mason, BBC News
• This is the Norman Tebbit test that Kemi Badenoch cannot fail – Sebastian Payne, The Times
• Why I plan to join Scotland’s new radical left party – Mark Brown, The National
• Can the Green Party ever work with Jeremy Corbyn? – Megan Kenyon, The New Statesman

> Yesterday: As Berry defects to Reform, the Conservative Party must decide what to do about former MPs

John Wall: Reform UK and the holy grail of finding real efficiency savings

News in brief:

• Kemi Badenoch is right – the welfare state is out of control – Daniel Herring, CapX
• Kaja Kallas is the real threat to Europe – Thomas Fazi, Unherd
• Is woke really dead? – Julie Bindel, The Critic
• Why Northern Ireland hates Paddington – Adam James Pollock, The Spectator
• What do civil servants really think about the state? – Joe Hill, CityAM