NHS and MoD will be urged to buy British tech to drive growth amid Iran crisis

The NHS and Ministry of Defence will be urged to buy British tech, as the government pins its hopes on the benefits of artificial intelligence to kickstart growth in the face of the Iran crisis, Treasury minister Spencer Livermore has said.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will restate her economic strategy in a high profile lecture on Tuesday, just as rocketing oil prices have raised fears of higher inflation and weaker growth.Livermore, who works closely with Reeves on policy, said the chancellor will highlight three strategic choices – to get closer to the EU, to strengthen regional policy in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor and by better connecting Northern cities; and to bet big on the benefits of AI.On AI, Livermore said Reeves is keen to “set out the optimistic case”, despite growing fears about the potential impact of the technology for jobs, particularly among young people.“There are massive opportunities here and I think that’s what we want to try to talk about,” he said

Judge blocks justice department from subpoenaing Fed chair Jerome Powell

A federal judge on Friday blocked the justice department from serving subpoenas to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in an inquiry purported to be about the management of the central bank’s renovation.Powell disclosed the surprise investigation on 11 January, and described the move as a threat to Fed independence and part of the Trump administration’s attempts to pressure the Fed to cut rates.The judge agreed, saying a “mountain of evidence” suggests the investigation was to pressure the Fed chair to lower rates or resign.“The government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” chief judge James Boasberg of the DC district court wrote on Friday.Tom Tillis, a Republican US senator, said on Friday an appeal by the Trump administration in a justice department case involving Powell “will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair”

Oil price shock likely to ‘push the UK economy into recession’; US growth revised down – as it happened

The oil price shock hitting the global economy could push the UK into recession, Tomasz Wieladek, chief European macro economist at investment managent firm T. Rowe Price, is warning this morning.Wieladek says the UK’s economy’s failure to grow in January show that it was weak even before the oil shock, which is likely to hit consumer spending and create more cost of living pressures.Following today’s weaker-than-expected GDP report, Wieladek writes:double quotation markUK GDP growth stagnated in January, far weaker than market expectations of a 0.2% month-on-month pickup

Miliband reveals plans that could mean nuclear power plants built near homes

Ed Miliband has unveiled plans that could make it easier to build nuclear power plants closer to homes and on sensitive nature sites, as he attempts to speed up the development of energy infrastructure.The energy secretary set out changes to nuclear regulation, to be carried out this year, which would mean a “win-win for building critical infrastructure while protecting nature and the environment”.However, ministers were quickly accused of “irresponsible deregulation” and putting nature at risk.The shake-up means the government will implement the recommendations of a review completed last year by the nuclear regulatory taskforce review, which was led by the former Office of Fair Trading boss John Fingleton.It said an overhaul of the “overly complex” and “bureaucratic” system which “favoured process over safe outcomes” was needed

Bailiffs board Ryanair plane after airline refuses to pay delayed flight compensation

Bailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.Austrian officials took action after the budget carrier ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman €890 (£742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago.A bailiff entered the plane, which was bound for London, as it sat on the stand at Linz airport on Monday and fixed a seizure sticker to the cabin when crew were unable to settle the debt.The label, known as a “cuckoo sticker”, gives the court legal control over the aircraft, which was allowed to continue to operate under set conditions. The court can sell the Boeing 737 at public auction if the debt is not paid by a deadline

Bleak economic data shows UK plc in trouble well before Middle East crisis

Even before Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury on Iran unleashed higher oil prices, threatening the outlook for growth and inflation, the UK economy was flatlining.That’s the bleak message in the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed zero GDP growth in January.On the less volatile three-monthly measure, growth was 0.2% – a slight improvement on 0.1% in the three months to December