No pandemic, no lockdown, but no economic growth either. Britain has slipped into recession, official figures confirm, as GDP shrank by a worse than expected 0.3 per cent in the three months from October to December, following a 0.1 per cent decline in the previous quarter.
Notwithstanding the fact that this represents one of the shallower recessions of recent times — certainly compared with the Covid contraction — it is a massive blow to Rishi Sunak, who made “grow the economy” one of his five pledges at the beginning of 2023.
Of course, a weakening economy is in a sense the medicine working. The Bank of England raised interest rates 14 successive times to 5.25 per cent in order to bring inflation back to target. Much painful progress has been made on that front, but at four per cent, inflation remains double the official target.
Clearly, even the uttering of the word “recession” is a disaster for the Government, never more so in an election year. If the Prime Minister and Chancellor were hoping to tell a story of green shoots of recovery, they will have to wait a little longer.
The oldest hatred
Anti-Jewish hatred in Britain has exploded. In its 2023 report on antisemitic incidents, the charity Community Security Trust found there were more than 4,000 instances of anti-Jewish hatred across the UK last year, vastly higher than 2022 — itself a record.
Chillingly, the largest single-day spike in anti-Jewish incidents took place in the week following the October 7 massacre, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostage. This suggests it was a celebration of a terrorist attack in Israel that unleashed the unprecedented levels of antisemitism across London and the UK.
From schools and universities to public transport and workplaces, nowhere is out of bounds for the oldest hatred. The appalling reality is that a minority — but by no means a tiny minority — are attempting to silence, intimidate or simply beat up British Jews who are just trying to live their lives. Meanwhile, the silence from those who would swiftly condemn all other forms of racism is deafening.
Back on track
Daily commuters, transport geeks and confused tourists rejoice! The London Overground is finally to be renamed and rebranded. Gone is the creeping and confusing morass of orange across the map, replaced by six separate branches, each with a unique name and colour.
With a Lioness line passing through Wembley Central and the Windrush line running through areas with strong ties to Caribbean communities, the new map celebrates the past, present, culture and diversity of our great city.
