I’m ‘determined’ to cut taxes, says new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi

Good morning. 

It’s a baptism of fire for new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who’s been grilled on his plans for the UK economy on his first day in the job.

Mr Zahawi, who was appointed following Rishi Sunak’s dramatic resignation last night, said: “I will look at everything. There’s nothing off the table.”

He hinted at cuts to corporation tax, saying: “I want to make sure we’re as competitive as we can be while maintaining fiscal discipline.”

But the new Chancellor said his main priority was to “rebuild and grow the economy” as surging inflation and the threat of a recession puts increasing strain on British households.

5 things to start your day 

1) Scooter couriers face their last delivery amid green push Safety and environmental concerns call into question whether the delivery scooters will survive in a post-pandemic world.

2) Strike threat to UK gas supplies averted after Norway intervention The Government moved last night to prevent strikes that would have put Britain’s gas supplies at risk. 

3) Jeremy Warner: We must not follow China into a never-ending lockdown nightmare

4) German drugmaker accused of stealing Covid vaccine technology CureVac claims BioNTech has taken the mRNA technology behind Britain’s Covid booster jab.

5) Heathrow faces more summer travel chaos as staff back July strike Union has warned of ‘considerable delays’ as refuelling staff back three-day walkout.

What happened overnight 

Hong Kong stocks dropped at the start of trade today, with the Shanghai Composite Index losing 0.4pc.

The Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange eased 0.3pc and the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.4pc.

Tokyo stocks opened lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index losing 0.8pc.

Coming up today

Corporate: Redde Northgate (full-year results); Bellevue Healthcare Trust (interims); Ten Entertainment, Robert Walters (trading update)

Economics: Composite PMI, services PMI (US); retail sales, economic growth forecasts (EU); construction PMI (UK)