The Reluctant British Consumer Is a Problem for Keir Starmer
- Households remain unwilling to spend amid uncertain outlook
- Growth, fiscal goals hinge on the UK economy’s dominant sector
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For British consumers still reeling from Labour’s first budget, the watchword is caution.
Pessimism is rife and households are looking to cut their expenses, for example by eating in rather than dining out, figures last week showed. Inflation is resurgent and fear of job losses mounting. Gone too are the so-called excess savings built up during the pandemic, the victim of the savage increase in prices since then.