HENRY FOWLER, assistant general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), reports on Day 2 from the GFTU’s residential Summer School at the Workers’ Retreat, Quorn Grange Hotel
BOSSES in car-making across Europe have suddenly shifted from a bad case of doom and gloom into believing that bright spells could be ahead.
Shares of VW rose by 4 per cent. Daimler, BMW, Fiat, Renault and Peugeot Vauxhall and its parent PSA all rose, along with car parts suppliers, including Michelin, Pirelli and Continental.
Much of this rise was greatly boosted by reports that China may cut sales tax on cars in half to boost demand, but thanks are also due to strong results from HSBC, as well as Standard & Poor’s decision not to downgrade the Italian government’s credit rating.
Friedrich Merz’s call for a new Plaza Accord ignores how Washington’s 1985 currency ambush destroyed Japan without fixing US deficits — China, a sovereign socialist state with 1.4 billion consumers, cannot be bullied the same way, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
US tariffs have had Von der Leyen bowing in submission, while comments from the former European Central Bank leader call for more European political integration and less individual state sovereignty. All this adds up to more pain and austerity ahead, argues NICK WRIGHT


