Bank of England interest rate cut joy for mortgage holders as Reeves blames mini-Budget for inflation - live

Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said UK manufacturing started the second half of 2024 on an encouragingly solid footing.

He added: “July saw growth of production and new orders strengthen and staffing levels rise for the first time since September 2022.

“Hopes for an economic revival and reduced political uncertainty took confidence to one of its highest levels for two-and-a-half years, with 60% of companies surveyed now forecasting output will rise over the coming 12 months.”

But he said inflationary pressures are still a blot on the copybook, adding: “However, with input costs rising to the greatest extent in one-and-a-half years.

“The ongoing Red Sea crisis and associated freight issues are having a severe impact on prices which are then sustaining a focus on cost-caution and cash flow protection at manufacturers.”

The leader of Edinburgh City Council has called on First Minister John Swinney to intervene and prevent refuse workers from taking strike action during the Scottish capital’s busy summer festival period.

Cammy Day warned the eight-day strike later this month, announced by three local government unions, will be a “tough time” for the council, adding “the impact will not be pleasant over the festival time”.

Having already warned strikes could lead to a “stinking Scottish summer”, the unions Unison, Unite and the GMB all announced waste and recycling staff will walk out over pay from 5am on Wednesday August 14 to 4.59am on Thursday August 22, with in 26 of Scotland’s 32 councils affected.

The action comes after the unions rejected the 3.2% pay rise offered, which local government body Cosla insisted was at the limit of affordability for councils.

A similar strike in 2022 was only resolved when the Scottish Government stepped in and provided additional funding for council workers’ pay.

With the unions insisting the offer is less than that being made to their counterparts in England, Mr Day urged Scottish ministers to “find that little more to avert strike action”.

Reform MP Lee Anderson threatened to do “whatever it takes” against a Travelodge he thought was housing migrants.

The MP for Ashton took to Facebook to raise concerns, saying: “I do not want groups of young men who have entered our country illegally roaming our streets. It is not racist or bigoted to say this. I love my constituency and will do whatever it takes to protect it.”

But the attack backfired after he was forced to rectify after realizing the hotel was in fact hosting international NHS nurses.

Responding to his post, one user, Neethu James, said: “I am appalled to see the comments on here. Yes there were two bus loads of people there, who are mostly international nurses and their families working in Kingsmill, and nursing homes in and around Sutton and Mansfield.

“They were on a weekend trip to have a family holiday together. None of them are on benefits, nobody lives in Travelodge and all of them pay taxes like you all do.”

Tory leadership contender Mel Stride has said the Conservative party is “outdated and over centralised”.

The shadow work and pensions minister said he will “revolutionalise” the party campaign machine if he becomes the new leader.

He tweeted: “Our party structure is outdated and over centralised. We need a radical overhaul and fast.

“I will revolutionise CCHQ and our whole campaign operation into a dynamic locally focused campaigning machine to win the upcoming local elections and the General Election.”

The UK’s manufacturing sector has seen activity jump to a two-year high in July as growth in production and new orders strengthened, according to fresh data.

The closely watched S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey recorded a reading of 52.1 for July, up from from 50.9 in June and above the 51.8 indicated in last month’s “flash” estimate.

The sector has now remained above the 50 mark for the past three months.

Any reading above 50 means a sector is in growth, while a score below this means it is contracting.

The EU has warned Sir Keir Starmer his attempt to repair relations with the bloc may fail if he does not meet a list of eight demands, it has emerged.

The prime minister has made rebuilding ties with Brussels a top priority since the general election, after years of mistrust between the two sides over Brexit.

And the European Commission has welcomed Sir Keir’s positive approach, but issued a list of tests through which the UK can “demonstrate real government commitment” to its withdrawal agreement with the EU.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:

Lord Frost has warned Labour will be in a “weak position from the start” if it “falls for” Brussels’ negotiating “playbook” during negotiations with the EU.

According to the Financial Times, the European Commission is urging the UK to fulfill eight demands to discuss Brexit trade agreements.

But Lord Frost said the government must not accept the demands.

The former Brexit minister tweeted this morning: “If Labour falls for this they will be [in] a weak position right from the start. It’s the standard Commission playbook: ‘we can’t talk about subject B till you have satisfied us on subject A’.

“You then only satisfy them on A by a series of concessions, which the British side is all too willing to make anyway to ‘win goodwill’.

“Of course it’s all too likely Labour don’t mind being in a weak position because they already intend to make concessions.”

The Bank of England is set to make a knife-edge call on interest rates.

The decision is expected to be announced today at 12 noon.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said today’s announcement will be more “symbolic than substantial”.

“A rate cut marks an entry into a new phase of interest rate policy, but at street level the reality is financial conditions won’t change much,” he said.

“Especially for the horde of people who will be rolling off cheap fixed-rate mortgages this year and encountering a new and bracing financial reality.”

Loose Haigh has blocked one of her cabinet colleagues as he “keeps sending her complaints about the poor catering on the trains and planes he travels on”, GB News reported.

A column in the Daily Telegraph by GB News’ Chris Hope did not name the minister.

But Ms Haigh has now revealed it was energy minister Ed Milliband.

Reform MP Lee Anderson has claimed Labour is planning to “hit the poorest” with tax rises.

The right-wing politician told GB News: “You know what is coming. They are going to hit the poorest.

“All they have done in their first three weeks of government is attack our pensioners who have put a shift in for the past 50 years. It is an absolute disgrace.”