Britain’s economic outlook is dire. In the third quarter of 2024, the UK economy grew by a disappointing 0.1%. Most strikingly, despite Britain once being home to the world’s fastest-growing and most innovative companies, the FTSE 100 only grew by six percent last year, while America’s S&P 500, seen as a barometer of US economic health, expanded by 25 percent.
The UK’s failure to increase its productivity means the government will struggle in the long term to fund essential public services such as the NHS. All the while, the companies of tomorrow, that will dominate the AI and technological sphere, are not being established in the UK. Without these businesses, Britain could struggle to be part of the technological revolution, leaving its workers poorer. This context is bleak for the new Labour government, which promised to make the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7….
