Trump’s familiar slogan, Make America Great Again, risks taking on a different meaning. It may come to suggest a country that stands increasingly alone. Allies are being unsettled, while rivals appear more confident. Germany is in talks with Washington over the future of American bases on its soil. France, Italy and Spain have restricted access to their airspace for military flights bound for Israel.
The war in the Gulf is starting to hit the global economy. In the Philippines, a state of emergency has been declared over oil shortages, and other countries could soon face similar problems.
It is not often said outright, but the latest Gulf conflict underlines a simple point. Europe is still a long way from replacing oil and gas with renewable energy. The first effects can already be seen in the UK, where spot gas prices have started to rise. They are nowhere near the peaks of 2022, but if the conflict continues, the pressure is likely to build.
Inflation, Unemployment, and Energy Costs: A Perfect Storm for the UK
The International Energy Agency’s plan to release the largest ever volume of oil from global strategic reserves comes as prices reach their highest levels in almost five years. For policy makers, the concern is that without addressing underlying supply constraints, the relief will be fleeting.
Last week Vacancysoft convened its annual summit against a backdrop of mounting scrutiny of Britain’s industrial strategy and its tangible effects on the labour market.
The UK’s £80 billion industrial strategy is driving investment into priority sectors such as artificial intelligence, clean energy, life sciences and telecoms, but early job gains remain concentrated, uneven, and in some cases delayed by regulatory and structural constraints. As geopolitical pressures and political uncertainty grow, questions remain over how widely employment benefits will spread and whether the strategy would survive a future change in government.
