It’s a baptism of fire for new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who has stuck to his plans for the UK economy on his first day in the job. Mr Zahawi, who was appointed after the dramatic resignation of Rishi Sunak last night, said: “I will look at everything. Nothing is off the table.” He hinted at corporate tax cuts, saying: “I want to make sure we are as competitive as we can be while maintaining fiscal discipline.” But the new chancellor said his top priority was “rebuilding and growing the economy” as rising inflation and the threat of a recession put increasing pressure 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 delivery scooters will survive in a post-pandemic world.
  2. Strike ban on UK gas supplies averted after Norway intervenes The government moved last night to prevent strikes that would put Britain’s gas supplies at risk.
  3. Jeremy Warner: We must not follow China into an endless nightmare of a lockdown
  4. German Pharmacist Accused of Stealing Covid Vaccine Technology CureVac claims BioNTech has used the mRNA technology behind Britain’s Covid vaccine booster.
  5. Heathrow faces more summer travel chaos as staff return to July strike The union has warned of “significant delays” as staff refueling is withdrawn for three days.

What happened in the night

Hong Kong stocks were lower in early trade today, with the Shanghai Composite losing 0.4%. The Shenzhen Composite on China’s second bourse fell 0.3 percent and the Hang Seng slipped 0.4 percent. Tokyo stocks opened lower, with the Nikkei 225 index losing 0.8%.

It’s coming today

Corporate: Redde Northgate (full year results). Bellevue Healthcare Trust (temporary); Ten Entertainment, Robert Walters (transaction update) Finance: Composite PMI, services PMI (US). retail sales, economic growth forecasts (EU). Construction PMI (UK)