Jaguar Land Rover restart helps UK factories return to growth

UK factories staged a recovery in October after the reopening of Jaguar Land Rover operations and a pick-up in consumer spending, according to a closely watched survey of the manufacturing sector.The S&P Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a one-year high as business optimism improved and factory output expanded.Jaguar Land Rover, Britain’s biggest carmaker, supported the recovery after it began reopening facilities hit by a cyber-attack that some experts estimated cost the UK economy about £1.9bn.Manufacturers were able to shake off some of the uncertainty from Donald Trump’s tariffs

Tax rises and drop in investment predicted to limit UK growth

The prospect of looming tax rises and a fall in business investment will restrict the UK’s economic growth rate next year to less than 1%, according to a health check of the economy by a leading consultancy.With less than four weeks before Rachel Reeves delivers her budget on 26 November, the EY Item Club has downgraded Britain’s growth for next year, indicating that the economy will continue to expand at a sluggish pace, limiting tax receipts and the chancellor’s financial room for manoeuvre.The Treasury’s independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, is also expected to downgrade the UK’s potential growth when it reports on budget day, based on a reassessment of productivity growth.Officials at the OBR are likely to cut the expected annual increase in productivity by 0.3 percentage points, reducing the government’s income by £21bn before the end of the parliament

Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart spotted at Donald Trump’s Halloween party

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has been spotted at Donald Trump’s Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago resort.The mining billionaire, who has never shied from publicly praising the controversial two-time US president, was seen speaking at Trump’s ear while he read a piece of paper in a social media post at the lavish affair at the weekend, as first reported by the Nine newspapers.The image, posted by the former US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, also included the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.The 1920s, Great Gatsby-themed party also reportedly attracted the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, who the Nine newspapers claimed was seen in a private story on Instagram.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailHanson’s office confirmed to Guardian Australia that the senator is absent from the upper house this week because she is in the US

The Nord Stream riddle: echoes of mistrust ripple through Europe

Chunky steel pipes run through one of the exhibition rooms at Warsaw’s Museum of Contemporary Art, part of an installation that purports to show “how gas flows, propaganda and conspiracy theories intertwine”.The exhibit is an artistic nod to Nord Stream 2, the undersea gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, which was completed in 2021 but had not entered service when mysterious underwater explosions took it out of action in September 2022.The pipeline has caused anger and anxiety in Poland ever since construction began in 2015, serving as a symbol of Germany’s close economic cooperation with Russia, a policy that was abandoned after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Now, three years after the blast that took Nord Stream 2 and its predecessor Nord Stream 1 out of commission, the ill-fated project is again causing sharp divisions among European allies after Poland refused to extradite a prime suspect in the explosion to Germany earlier this month.In the immediate aftermath of the attack, many suspected Moscow might have been responsible, but evidence has instead pointed to a plot carried out by Ukrainians

John Lewis to open VIP lounge at Oxford Street store with free drinks and massages

John Lewis is to open a VIP space at its Oxford Street store in London as part of a drive to lure customers back, after years in which it has lost ground to rivals including Marks & Spencer.The retailer is to unveil the John Lewis Lounge on Tuesday, with access for members of its loyalty card scheme, weeks after reporting group losses had nearly tripled to £88m in the first half of this year.In the area, which the company said would be trialled until Christmas, customers will be served a complimentary glass of sparkling wine or hot drink as well as given hand and arm massages, Waitrose chocolates, and nibbles from the cafe chain Benugo.The company describes the area as “VIP retreat or third space”, a “haven where members can rest and recharge … a moment of serenity”.Rosie Hanley, the brand director at John Lewis, said: “Our new John Lewis Lounge is about rewarding loyalty with a premium experience

A million young people aren’t in a job or training. Britain has a problem | Richard Partington

Almost a million young people are not in education, employment or training. Employers are freezing their hiring plans. Unemployment is at a four-year high. Not all is right in the UK jobs market, and the outlook is getting worse.Typically it takes a full-blown recession to spark the type of growth in unemployment that Britain is witnessing today