On June 4, 2024, the UK Day will focus on the following:
● The pound rose to a new high of 9.28! The UK manufacturing sector returned to growth, and business optimism rose to a more than two-year high
● YouGov poll predicts that the Conservatives will face a crushing defeat in the general election
● Farage, the founder of the British Reform Party, changed his tune and announced his candidacy
● Former boss of Shell: The UK needs more graduates to enter the manufacturing industry
● Virgin Atlantic officially launched a new route between Manchester City and Las Vegas
The pound rose to a new high of 9.28! The UK manufacturing sector returned to growth, and business optimism rose to a more than two-year high
British media reported on June 3 that the British manufacturing industry is back to growth amid a surge in business confidence and new orders, and British manufacturing production is surging at the fastest pace since April 2022.
Statistics show that the S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 in May. Various manufacturing companies said they were getting more new orders than in previous months.
Meanwhile, optimism in the UK manufacturing sector has risen to its highest point since early 2022, with 63% of manufacturers expecting higher production a year from now.
In this regard, the latest US manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for May released by the Institute for Supply Management was lower than expected.
Affected by the above news, the pound exchange rate rose sharply in the past 24 hours (June 4), and the pound once climbed to 1.281 against the dollar, hitting a new high in nearly three months. The pound also rose to 9.28 against the yuan, hitting a new high in nearly 11 months.
The chart below shows the GBP/USD exchange rate over the last month
The chart below shows the trend of the GBP/CNY exchange rate over the last month
As of this time (June 4), the latest exchange rate of the British pound is as follows
YouGov民调预测保守党将面临大选惨败
YouGov released its latest poll forecast on June 3 that the UK's ruling Conservative Party will suffer an unprecedented defeat in the general election on July 4, with the opposition Labour Party expected to win 422 seats and gain a 194-seat advantage in the House of Commons.
By comparison, the Conservatives will only win 140 seats, a reduction of 232 seats.
The Conservatives are expected to face near-total annihilation in London, the North East of England, the North West and Wales.
In addition, many key Conservative cabinet members may lose their seats in this general election, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, and House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt.
YouGov's poll also predicts that the Liberal Democrats will rise to 48 seats in the general election and that the Scottish National Party will lose more than half of Scotland's seats.
Farage, the founder of the British Reform Party, changed his tune and announced his candidacy
Farage, the founder of Britain's right-wing Reform UK, abruptly changed his tune on June 3 and announced that he would take over as chairman of the Reform Party and run for the House of Commons in this general election.
The constituency he chose to contest was Clacton in Essex, which is currently represented by the ruling Conservative Party.
Farage said he decided to run again because the Conservative Party was on the "verge of total collapse" and that Labour would surely win the election and come to power. He has now changed his mind, hoping to lead a "political uprising" that would topple the political position of the Conservative Party and make the British Reform Party the biggest opposition party after the election.
Relevant British media reports pointed out that Farage's move is the latest fatal blow to the Conservative Party.
Former Shell boss: The UK needs more graduates to enter the manufacturing sector
According to British media sources, at a recent conference, Peter Voser, the former boss of Shell, pointed out: "Britain has forgotten the importance of certain industries, and now, a large number of university graduates are entering the consulting industry, rather than manufacturing, which is a failure of industrial policy." ”
A study released last month by the Youth Futures Foundation showed that the number of vocational apprentices in the UK has fallen by more than 40% since 2017. Separately, a report earlier this year showed that the growth of professional services in the UK has outpaced that of the banking sector.
During his speech, Peter Voser also criticized the lack of technical training at the UK's top universities. "If you take in a history degree graduate from a Cambridge or Oxford university, for the first three or four years, the company is basically teaching them how to work," he explains. ”
Virgin Atlantic officially launches a new route between Manchester City and Las Vegas
Virgin Atlantic has officially launched a new route from Manchester, UK to Las Vegas, USA. On the morning of June 2, local time, flight VS85 to Las Vegas officially took off, which also made Manchester City Airport the only British airport outside London to provide direct flights to the west coast of the United States.
It is reported that Virgin's direct Manchester City-Las Vegas route runs three times a week during the summer, with round-trip economy class tickets starting at £856.12.
This is Virgin Atlantic's fourth route between Manchester and the United States, from which Manchester can also fly to Orlando, New York and Atlanta in the United States.