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Good morning and welcome back. In today’s newsletter:
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Business leaders rebuke Reeves’ Budget
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Top Chinese tech groups train AI models in south-east Asia
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France to reintroduce voluntary military service
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Swiss politicians decry ‘gold bar diplomacy’ in Trump trade deal
We start with business reaction to UK chancellor Rachel Reeves’ second Budget.
Broken promises: Reeves is failing to fulfil her promise to kick-start economic growth, business leaders have said, after her Budget focused on £26bn of tax rises to fund higher welfare spending and increase her fiscal buffer.
Reeves pledged in her first major speech since taking office last year that boosting growth would be a “national mission” for Labour, but corporate executives found little evidence of her meeting this commitment in yesterday’s Budget.
In a bind: Several chief executives said Reeves had done little to give businesses incentives to grow, other than by not implementing measures such as a tax raid on banks. At the same time many companies face a steep increase in costs, including a rise in the minimum wage contained in yesterday’s Budget. Read remarks from chief executives.
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‘Spend now, pay later’ plan: Increased fiscal headroom may have calmed markets but delaying the pain poses a risk for Labour in the run-up to the next election.
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Risk aversion: Despite its large majority, the Labour government lacks the nerve to undertake radical reform, writes Martin Wolf.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:
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Central banks: The European Central Bank publishes the minutes of the October monetary policy meeting of its governing council.
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Papal trip: Leo XIV travels to Turkey and Lebanon in his first foreign trip as pope.
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Thanksgiving: Americans celebrate the national holiday. US financial markets are closed.
Join FT experts tomorrow at 1pm London time to analyse how the autumn Budget will affect the UK economy. Subscribers can sign up here for this exclusive event.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: Top Chinese companies are training their artificial intelligence models in data centres across south-east Asia as they seek to access Nvidia’s chips and bypass US efforts to block their development of the powerful technology. Read the full report.
2. French President Emmanuel Macron is set to outline plans to enable more young men and women to join the military on a voluntary basis, as France joins other European nations in seeking to bolster its defence capabilities in the face of threats from Russia. He will give details during a visit to a military base near Grenoble today.
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Opinion: A speech by a leading general hinting at the need for conscription has taken the French out of their comfort zone, writes Sylvie Kauffmann.
3. Swiss euphoria at securing lower US tariffs has given way to a backlash over “gold bar diplomacy” and the role executives played from companies including Rolex and Richemont. The manner in which the trade deal was reached has drawn criticism that could threaten its ratification.
4. Exclusive: Italian defence group Leonardo is set to unveil a type of air-defence technology designed to facilitate the creation of Dome-style missile shields, as European countries race to strengthen their military protection against Russia. Read more on the plans.
5. Exclusive: The London Stock Exchange boss said that UK companies are now more “forceful” about rewarding executives for attracting talent, noting that pay packets do not need to be “Elon Musk-style”. Read the full interview with Dame Julia Hoggett.
News in-depth
© FT montage/AFP/Getty Images
Jared Kushner has long carried the weight of some of Donald Trump’s toughest diplomatic missions. During his father-in-law’s first term, he led the US president’s push for Arab states to normalise ties with Israel. More recently he was called on to help broker a deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Now he is being enlisted as a peacemaker to help end the Ukraine-Russia war. Read more on how Kushner became Trump’s fixer-in-law.
We’re also reading . . .
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Fatal Hong Kong fire: A blaze that swept through an apartment complex in the Tai Po district has killed at least 44 people, while 279 are missing.
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Neighbourhood opposition: Data centres are facing resistance in some US communities over the “monstrosities” spoiling the local scenery as well as potentially higher utility bills.
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Nigeria abductions: The country’s problem is not that it fails to protect its Christians, but that it fails to protect anyone of whatever faith, according to the FT View.
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‘Trump bump’: The US president’s attacks on universities have opened up an opportunity for European business schools to attract students once bound for elite American campuses.
Join senior FT editors on December 3 for a discussion on what will shape the year ahead. Register for free today.
Chart of the day
Michelle Bowman, Federal Reserve vice-chair for supervision, has launched one of the most significant reversals of US financial regulation for decades. Looser rules are expected to boost lending and profits, while entrenching American dominance of the sector. European rivals fear they will be left behind.
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Take a break from the news . . .
There is something particularly stubborn about gender roles during the holiday season, writes Tim Harford. For instance, choosing and wrapping Christmas gifts is a job that seems optional for men, whereas for women social pressures make it all but compulsory.
© Alberto Miranda
