1. Britain became a ‘big winner’, the pound surged to a nine-year high
According to British media reports, the British Prime Minister's Office ‘breathed a sigh of relief’ after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the broadest tariffs to date on Wednesday - - British imports will only be hit by U.S. tariffs. -UK imports are only subject to 10 per cent tariffs by the US, half the 20 per cent tariffs imposed on the EU, the lowest of the ‘benchmark tariffs’.
UK Prime Minister Starmer said the result was the reward for his patient diplomacy with Trump. 10 Downing Street responded that Starmer's diplomatic efforts had saved thousands of jobs in the UK, but that he would need to continue to negotiate a UK-US trade deal, which he hoped would ultimately lead to further negotiated reductions in US tariffs on UK exports.
An official at 10 Downing Street added: "Any tariffs are not good and we don't want any at all. But the fact that these tariffs are lower than those in other countries proves that we are doing the right thing. That's important because the difference between 10 per cent and 20 per cent is about thousands of jobs."
Sky News UK quoted sources as saying that the UK government was digesting the news of the new tariffs, but that overall it was seen as a ‘good outcome’. As a result of the above news, the Pound exchange rate has risen sharply over the past 24 hours, with the Sterling to Chinese Yuan exchange rate hitting a near nine-year high since 2016, and the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate rising to its highest point this year.
In summary, the main reasons for the Pound's rise include:
US trade policy changes: the Pound has benefited from US President Donald Trump's announcement of new tariffs on imports from a number of countries, including the UK, sparking concerns in the market about the US economy and leading to a weakening of the US Dollar.
UK-U.S. TRADE NEGOTIATIONS PROGRESS: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said trade talks with the U.S. are progressing well, and market expectations for a trade deal between the U.K. and the U.S. have strengthened, boosting sterling's performance.
Investors' expectations of the Bank of England's policy: investors expect that the Bank of England may adopt a more moderate monetary policy, increasing demand for the pound.
2. Property values in London's most upmarket areas have fallen
The Times news, affected by Labour's tax reforms and the abolition of non-domicile tax status (non-dom status), property values in London's most upmarket areas have fallen over the past decade.
The data shows that properties priced at £4.75m or more in prime central London have fallen by 2.6% in the past year. The average house price in London is now 21 per cent cheaper than its peak in June 2014, equating to a drop of £1.2m. Statistics show that $1m (£800,000) can now buy a 34sq m (365sq ft) property in prime central London, compared to 23sq m (248sq ft) a decade ago.
London's luxury property market, once booming with a concentration of the rich and powerful, has fallen into a slump in recent years, especially as numerous Russian buyers have pulled out of the market following sanctions in 2022, the sources said. With fewer Russian buyers, US billionaires are increasingly propping up London's luxury market, accounting for 25 per cent of all super-luxury buyers; buyers from the Middle East (notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) account for 20 per cent.
3. London one of the world's most vibrant cities
London is one of the world's most vibrant cities, with a large number of multinational companies choosing to put down roots here, research has found. According to Savills' inaugural “corporate dynamic wealth index”, London is the fourth most popular city in the world for large corporates to locate in, after Seoul, Singapore and New York.
Savills says the UK capital remains attractive to blue-chip companies, with its developed economy and excellent talent and technology ecosystem attracting top employers to London's Enterprise Zones. Paul Tostevin, Director of World Research at Savills, says that despite the changes in the global wealth landscape in recent years, London's position amongst the world's cities has not been affected. affected.
He explains, ‘Traditional factors influencing companies' location choices, such as government policies, tax measures and innovative talent pools, still play an important role, but factors such as the city's ambience and high quality of life are also increasing in influence.’
4. record number of pupils apply to state schools in uk
Record numbers of pupils are applying to join top state SIXTH FORM schools as a result of the Labour government's introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on private schools, according to headteachers in the UK.
In October 2024, Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves announced in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament that private schools would no longer benefit from the VAT exemption from January 2025 and that funding would be provided for the recruitment of an additional 6,500 teachers to the nation's public schools. As a result, just a few months after the policy was implemented, many British parents have been forced to transfer their children from private to public schools in order to be educated at the Foundation Stage.
The head of the Grammar School Heads Association (GSA) said, "I have spoken to a number of grammar schools who claim that there is now increased interest from pupils completing their GCSEs at public schools for very obvious reasons. If you increase public school fees by 15 per cent, parents could save two years' worth of tuition fees by transferring their children."
But as more and more public school pupils apply to transfer, public schools are under increasing pressure to become overcrowded. The latest statistics released by the DfE for the 2023-24 school year show that only 1.5 per cent of public school places are vacant in some areas, and some schools even have less than 5 per cent of places available.
5. Over 1/5 of the UK workforce is jobless and not looking for work
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that over 1/5 of Britons aged between 16 and 64 (9.2 million people in total) are neither in work nor looking for work, 700,000 more than before the new crown epidemic.
ONS data shows that around 1/3 of the labour force population who are neither working nor looking for work are unable to work because of long-term sickness. The rest are not working because they are studying, need to look after their families, have a disability, have retired early and are devastated after a setback in the workplace.
The data also shows an increase in the number of Britons between the ages of 16 and 34 who are not working or looking for work, while the total number of such people between the ages of 35 and 64 has decreased. Citing a recent report, the British media reported that the number of people suffering from mental illness in the UK is on the rise, with more people in their early 20s not wanting to work due to mental illness than those in their early 40s.
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