Closing post
Time to wrap up (and start the wrapping!).
The UK economy had zero growth between July and September and is expected to have stagnated over the entire second half of 2024, undermining Keir Starmer’s promise to reboot growth.
In an unexpected downgrade as Labour comes under pressure over its economic management since taking power in July, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed growth in the third quarter was revised down to zero, below an initial estimate of 0.1% made last month.
Growth in the second quarter was also downgraded, from 0.5% to 0.4%.
The ONS said the downgrade was driven by bars and restaurants, legal firms and advertising performing less well than it first expected.
But while Tories have been quick to blame Rachel Reeves and her budget, the economy has been misfiring for the best part of a decade
The GDP downgrade came on a morning in which the CBI warned that businesses expect activity to fall at the start of next year.
And in other news…
We’ll be back tomorrow, to see if we get a Santa Rally on the final trading day in the City before Christmas…
Updated
Revealed: Thames Water diverted ‘cash for clean-ups’ to help pay bonuses
Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs including bonuses and dividends, the Guardian has revealed today.
The company, which serves more than 16 million customers, cut the funds after senior managers assessed the potential risks of such a move.
Discussions – held in secret – considered the risk of a public and regulatory backlash if it emerged that cash set aside for work such as cutting river pollution had been spent elsewhere.
This could be seen as a breach of the company’s licence commitments and leave it vulnerable to accusations it had broken the law, according to sources and material seen by the Guardian.
Thames Water continued to pay staff bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and also paid tens of millions in dividends as recently as March this year, while cutting back on its spending promises. The company did so despite public claims from its leaders that improvements to its environmental performance, including on pollution, were a priority.
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