Important Celebrations for UK Labour – The Week Ahead

The week begins in Spain with the publication of the doubtful loan data for November, as well as the corporate turnover index for the same month. In addition, the debt and public deficit data for the eurozone for the third quarter will be known. Investors will be watching the one-year benchmark lending rate in China.

In terms of European macroeconomic references, the week will begin on Wednesday with the publication of the advance PMIs. This being a first approximation to the evolution of the manufacturing and services sector at the beginning of a year that will be relevant to clear up and pending doubts from the end of last year.

On Thursday, we will know the data on the IFO Survey in Germany, which will predictably show the fragile economic situation presented by the “European locomotive”, as we have been anticipating since last year. In addition, we will learn about the decisions taken by the ECB, where no changes are expected in official interest rates, but which will be relevant to project the economic path of the European continent.

The end of the week will be marked by Germany’s publication of the GFK Consumer Confidence Indicator. In addition, we will know the data on the unemployment rate in Spain.

In the business field, throughout the week, the presentation of results from Logitech, Nokia, Volvo, Netflix, Johnson and Johnson, General Electric, Visa, Procter and Gamble, United Airlines, and Ericsson stand out.

In the UK, there’s nothing specifically new expected to make the headlines this week, as it’s the turn of the Lords to debate the next stage of the Rwanda plan. This is however a significant week for Labour, although much has changed since the origins and therefore might go unnoticed and even uncelebrated, we shall have to wait and see, but Monday marks 100 years since the first Labour Government was formed. A day later, on Tuesday, it’s the 100^th anniversary of the appointment of the first female minister in the UK. Margaret Grace Bondfield, a Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women’s rights activist, the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in the UK, and subsequently Minister of Labour.

A high-profile criminal trial gets underway this week, with Wednesday set for the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who made headlines when they were reported missing by Marten’s father on January 5 last year, after their abandoned car was found alight near Bolton. After numerous reported sightings, the couple were arrested in February, after which their baby daughter was discovered dead in an allotment shed near Brighton. Despite the obvious tragedy, there was a lot said about Marten’s privileged upbringing on the £100m estate of Crichel House in Dorset, and the connection between her parents and the royal family.

Remember Gary Glitter? He is likely to be leader of the headline gang midweek as his parole hearing is set to take place on Wednesday. In other crime related news, across the pond in America, Alabama to be precise, on the same day a convicted criminal is scheduled to be executed using nitrogen gas.

Following the revelations in the Post Office Inquiry last week, in which Fujitsu were the protagonist, this week the focus returns to some of the victims, namely the investigations resulting in the prosecution of Scottish sub-postmaster William Quarm and Northern Irish victims Alan McLaughlin and Maureen McKelvey. The investigation is expected to at least discuss bonuses for guilty until proven innocent investigations, and the missing money finding its way into the pockets of some of the executives.