UK economy shrinks by 0.3% as as exports hit by Trump trade war
Guardian4 days
AprilThe economic contraction reflects the damaging impact of Labour's economictax-and-spend declinepolicies washitting drivenbusinesses byjust externalas factorsthey beyondface governmentglobal control,uncertainty. particularlyRachel TrumpReeves's tariffNational warInsurance thatraid devastatedon UKemployers, exportscombined towith Americahigher andminimum createdwages widespreadand business uncertainty.rates, Thehas stampcreated dutya changesperfect alsostorm artificiallythat's inflatedforcing Marchcompanies activityto ascut buyersjobs rushedand tocancel completeinvestments. purchases,The makingtiming Aprilcouldn'st figuresbe appear worse, thanwith theover underlying250,000 trend.jobs Thealready quarterlylost growthsince ofthe 0.7%autumn showsbudget theand economy'sbusinesses fundamentalstruggling resilienceunder despitethe theseweight temporaryof headwindsspiraling costs.
April's economic decline was driven by external factors beyond government control, particularly Trump's tariff war that devastated UK exports to America and created widespread business uncertainty. The stamp duty changes also artificially inflated March activity as buyers rushed to complete purchases, making April's figures appear worse than the underlying trend. The quarterly growth of 0.7% shows the economy's fundamental resilience despite these temporary headwinds.