misjudged decisions by the conservative party just last year. let s just touch on what the bank of england is forecasting for the uk economy this year. it says britain remains set for recession, but a much shallower one than previously feared. it sees the economy shrinking by 0.5% in 2023, as energy bills fall and price rises slow. that compares with the 1.5% contraction forecast in november. in an interview with the bbc, andrew bailey admitted that it s some critics might say, well, why are you raising interest rates, which makes life harderfor a lot of households and gives them less money to spend when we re already headed for recession? the answer to that is that they are worried that inflationary pressure, which had been imported so far from gas prices and the like is becoming embedded domestically, in, for example, the price of services, which has gone up by more than they expected.
they deserve. d0 sector workers the pay rise that they deserve- sector workers the pay rise that they deserve. sector workers the pay rise that the deserve. , ., ~ , they deserve. do you think there is the political they deserve. do you think there is the political will they deserve. do you think there is the political will to they deserve. do you think there is the political will to do they deserve. do you think there is the political will to do that - the political will to do that under this government? the political will to do that under this government? absolutely not. this is a very this government? absolutely not. this is a very fossil this government? absolutely not. this is a very fossil fuel this government? absolutely not. this is a very fossil fuel friendly . this is a very fossil fuel friendly government. it receives millions in pounds in party political donations, rishi sunak last year, a quarter of his donations received came for people with investments in
difficult for families, businesses up and down the country when interest rates go up, but much harder for them would be is if we didn t take decisive steps to bring down inflation. and that s why the bank of england is absolutely right to do what they ve done today, and we in the government must make sure we support them by what i do in the budget, to make sure that we make it easier, not harder, for them to do what we all want to do, which is to halve inflation. here s his labour shadow, rachel reeves. a strong economy has got to be built on a rock of fiscal- and financial responsibility. that s why the conservatives got it so wrong last year, when they tried to push through a load of unfunded tax cuts which had disastrous consequences. the international monetary fund | pointed this week to the impact| of mortgages in the uk contributing to the worst outlook in the uk i compared to countries around i the world, so we are still feeling the effects of thosel
workers a pay rise in line with inflation. the oil and gas industry has always been a rich but it is particularly shocking to see shell and other oil and gas companies raking in such huge sums in the midst of an energy affordability crisis here in the uk that has obviously pushed millions of families into poverty. it is important to recognise shell is richer because we are all poorer. let s talk about this because they say they are paying tax, do to pay $134 million in uk windfall tax for 2022 and more than 500,000,020 23 and i know it is billions instead of their profits but they say they would drive only about 5% of its revenue from the uk. the rest is made and taxing otherjurisdictions. how are you suggesting that that be
birds as we used to do. it s critical we carry on with this testing. we want to be sure we in the uk. determine the extent in the uk. now having found the virus in foxes and otters, they will be doing more work on mammals. we haven t got evidence of these viruses can maintain in those populations, but we are doing more surveillance. we have kicked off a formal ramping up in the last two weeks, but it is targeted. it is looking for where there is a real risk of spill over into mammals so we can be watchful. right now the threat to be humans is still said to be very low but the world health organization told the bbc it was very concerned and monitoring the situation closely. the advice is clear. he d any warning signs and don t touch any sick or dead birds. claire marshall, bbc news.