Bank of England delays interest rate decision due to royal mourning, as businesses and unions pay respects – as it happened

From 9 Sep 2022

12.30

Bank of England delays interest rate meeting by one week due to royal mourning

Just in: The Bank of England has delayed its next interest rate decision by a week, due to the death on Queen Elizabeth.

The UK’s central bank’s monetary policy committee had been due to meet next week to set interest rates, and to announce their decision on Thursday at noon.

The decision has now been rescheduled to the following Thursday.

The Bank says:

“In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week.

“The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.”

In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week. The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.

— Bank of England (@bankofengland) September 9, 2022

Bank of England pushes next interest rate decision back a week to Sept 22.

— Jamie McGeever (@ReutersJamie) September 9, 2022

Economists had been predicting the Bank would raise interest rates again, perhaps by 50 basis points (half a percent) or even 75bp as it tries to cool inflation.

9 Sep 2022

15.24

The FT reports that Fortnum & Mason stopped the clock at its Piccadilly store, while John Lewis has said the proceeds of flowers sold in its London stores would be passed to charities.

At @Fortnums, “As a sign of our deep respect, the flag at Piccadilly has been lowered to half-mast, and the hands on our façade clock have been stopped.”
It really is Auden’s “Stop all the clocks.”

— GailRenard (@GailRenard) September 9, 2022

9 Sep 2022

14.53

Full story: Bank of England delays interest rate decision after Queen’s death

Richard Partington

The Bank of England has delayed a decision over raising interest rates to tackle soaring inflation after the death of the Queen.

The central bank said its rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) would postpone its next meeting by a week as the UK observes a period of national mourning. The MPC had been due to meet on 15 September.

In a statement, Threadneedle Street said:

“In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the monetary policy committee has been postponed for a period of one week.

The committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.”

The Bank was widely expected to raise interest rates by at least 0.5 percentage points, from the current level of 1.75%, in response to inflation hitting the highest levels since the early 1980s.

Since the central bank was granted independence to set interest rates by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown, in 1997, it has rarely held meetings outside a strictly planned schedule, which is drawn up at least a year in advance.

Several extra emergency meetings have been held in times of economic crises, including the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, but delays are unusual.

More here:

Bank of England delays interest rate decision after Queen’s death

Read more

9 Sep 2022

14.41

Julia Kollewe

Lloyd’s of London rang the Lutine bell once on Thursday evening to honour the Queen’s passing, just after her death was announced by Buckingham Palace.

The bell used to be rung on the arrival of news of an overdue ship, once for the ship’s loss and twice for her return, but more recently it has been rung to mark special occasions.

Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown also gave a speech on Thursday to express his condolences to the royal family. He said:

“We were lucky to call her a friend and regular visitor to Lloyd’s – and I’m sure every one of us will cherish the memories we had together. Clearly, this loss comes at a time when hope is hard to find in the daily news cycle, which offers more cause for sadness than solace…

Today, we see a whole world united – not just in grief and respect, but in love, admiration and indebtedness. After all, she gave us so much to admire. And it is that shining role model we remember today, and will honour for years to come. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers will remain with the Royal Family as they mourn.”

9 Sep 2022

14.37

Media firms introduce advertising blackouts

Mark Sweney

Broadcasters, newspaper publishers, radio stations and social media platforms including Snapchat have instituted an unprecedented advertising blackout in response to the death of the Queen, my colleague Mark Sweney writes:

ITV, Channel 4 and Sky are not running any ads on their main channels until at least 5am on Saturday, in accordance with a protocol agreement with Buckingham Palace, however their digital channels such as ITV2, 3 and 4 will continue to do so.

Commercial broadcasters and industry bodies will meet on Friday afternoon to decide whether the blackout should be extended across the weekend, with some advertisers being told they may face penalties if they want to continue the pause on advertising past the officially agreed deadline of Saturday morning.

Twitter has told media agencies, who buy ads on behalf of clients, that it will not run ads in the UK for 48 hours. Snapchat UK has a 24-hour ban on ads around all news and public service content.

Various advertising blackouts have been introduced by News UK, Reach – which owns the Mirror and the Daily Express national newspapers, as well as more than 100 regional titles including the Manchester Evening News – and the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph.

Here’s the full story:

Media firms introduce advertising blackouts to respect late Queen

Read more

9 Sep 2022

14.23

The Lloyd’s of London building reflected in a window in the City of London financial district.

Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters

Lloyd’s of London plans to close its building on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral as a mark of respect, a spokesperson for the commercial insurance market has said.

Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown and chief executive John Neal will also no longer attend the global reinsurance industry’s annual conference in Monte Carlo, the spokesperson said.

That conference runs from September 10th to 14th.

Updated at 14.40 BST

9 Sep 2022

12.49

Professor Danny Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, is very surprised by the delay to this month’s interest rate decision:

Wow

— Professor Danny Blanchflower economist & fisherman (@D_Blanchflower) September 9, 2022

9 Sep 2022

12.30

Bank of England delays interest rate meeting by one week due to royal mourning

Just in: The Bank of England has delayed its next interest rate decision by a week, due to the death on Queen Elizabeth.

The UK’s central bank’s monetary policy committee had been due to meet next week to set interest rates, and to announce their decision on Thursday at noon.

The decision has now been rescheduled to the following Thursday.

The Bank says:

“In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week.

“The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.”

In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week. The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.

— Bank of England (@bankofengland) September 9, 2022

Bank of England pushes next interest rate decision back a week to Sept 22.

— Jamie McGeever (@ReutersJamie) September 9, 2022

Economists had been predicting the Bank would raise interest rates again, perhaps by 50 basis points (half a percent) or even 75bp as it tries to cool inflation.

9 Sep 2022

11.53

TUC Congress postponed

The TUC has postponed its annual Congress, following the death of the Queen.

TUC Congress 2022 – the annual decision-making body for the federation of trades unions – was due to begin on Sunday at The Brighton Centre, but will now be rescheduled for a later date.

A TUC spokesperson said:

“The General Council sends our condolences to the King and the Royal Family on the death of the Queen, and recognises her many years of dedicated service to the country.

“As a mark of respect, we have decided to postpone Congress 2022 until later this autumn.”

We send our condolences to the King and the Royal Family on the death of HM the Queen.

As a mark of respect, we have decided to postpone Congress 2022, which was due to begin this Sunday, until later this autumn.

— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) September 9, 2022

Updated at 12.08 BST