Industrial production across the European Union fell by 0.8 per cent in March compared to the previous month, according to figures released by Eurostat on 22 May, marking the latest evidence of a manufacturing slowdown that has gripped the bloc’s economy. The year-on-year contraction of 1.4 per cent underscores mounting challenges facing EU industry as…
Kemi Badenoch’s net favourability of -17 is the highest recorded by any Conservative leader in over five years, suggesting a slow but discernible Tory recovery beneath the surface of Reform UK’s headline-grabbing surge. The trend has implications for UK-EU relations, where the Conservative posture differs sharply from both Labour and Reform.
Reform UK has led national opinion polls since early 2025 and converted that lead into 1,454 seat gains in this month’s local elections. The party’s trajectory raises a question that mainstream British politics has spent years avoiding: what happens when a populist insurgent achieves not just protest support but operational delivery?
Andy Burnham remains the most popular potential successor to Sir Keir Starmer among the British public, with a net favourability score of +4 — the only major political figure currently in positive territory. His Manchester mayoralty makes him a viable but procedurally complicated candidate in any Labour leadership contest.
UK consumer prices rose 2.8% in the year to April 2026, down sharply from 3.3% in March and well below market expectations of 3.0%. The moderation, driven by the new energy price cap and softer housing services costs, gives the Labour government a rare positive statistical headline.
The International Monetary Fund has advised the Bank of England not to raise interest rates this year, despite the inflationary pressures from the Iran conflict. Holding the Bank Rate at 3.75% should be sufficient to bring inflation back to target by end-2027, the Fund concluded in its latest UK Article IV consultation.
Sir Keir Starmer’s net favourability has fallen to -46 in the latest YouGov tracker, with 69% of Britons viewing the Prime Minister unfavourably. As Labour grapples with the aftermath of local-election losses, the question of his leadership has moved decisively from speculation to open political debate.
European Parliament has moved this week to tighten the EU’s foreign investment screening regime, addressing growing concerns about strategic acquisitions in defence, semiconductors, AI and critical raw materials by non-EU investors with state backing.
The European Parliament has placed the question of joint EU medicines procurement at the centre of its May plenary, as pressure from Washington and Beijing on pharmaceutical supply chains reaches what liberals describe as a decisive moment for the Union’s negotiating leverage.
MEPs in Strasbourg have moved this week to delay certain high-risk provisions of the AI Act and adopt a new ban on so-called ‘AI nudifier’ systems, in a vote that signals a recalibration of how the Union balances innovation incentives against the most acute risks of generative AI.
