ALEX BRUMMER: UK becomes a safe haven for investors By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Updated: 21:50 BST, 12 July 2024 e-mail View comments Looking ahead: Chancellor Rachel Reeves All governments need a share of good luck. The Tories left Labour unresolved industrial problems such as the fate of Port Talbot, an unwanted Czech bid for Royal Mail and a cash crisis at Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff. Ed Miliband may be adding to the list with his attack on North Sea oil exploration and Aberdeen jobs.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, for all her rhetoric about Conservative chaos, is presiding over a much more favourable economy than imagined. She is being assisted by shifting global tectonic plates. France is in chaos – not helped by the rantings of left-wing party leader Jean-Luc Melenchon who thinks that income tax on the well-heeled should be lifted to 90 per cent.
The US is bedevilled by its own political uncertainty after President Biden's misspeaks at the conclusion of the Nato summit this week. Amid this background Britain looks an island of stability and the 'Truss tantrum' a distant memory. A centrist Government, with a big majority, looks to provide an attractive venue for investors.
If the currency is evidence of confidence the surge in the pound towards $1.30 must be regarded as a triumph. Sterling strength helps the Bank of England fight inflation as prices for oil and other commodities, priced in dollars, become cheaper.
Two successive quarters of robust growth, exc.
