Surveys conducted by the British Lloyds Bank and market research firm GfK has registered a marked fall in consumer confidence in the United Kingdom with less than a year until the UK leaves the European Union.
General optimism over the collective state of the British economy has also fallen as a result of steel and aluminium tariffs levied by the United States against the EU and China in addition to those countries' retaliatory measures, according to Lloyds Bank's research.
Financial Times UK consumer confidence improvement snaps as pessimism builds Financial Times Consumer confidence in the UK snapped a short-lived streak of improvement in June, according to a closely-watched survey. Data compiled by Gfk on behalf of the… https://t.co/e9c80ASmGZ pic.twitter.com/8crRrnRq9V
— LutonTweets (@Lutontweets) June 29, 2018
GfK: Consumers hold on to their cash as confidence drops yet again https://t.co/Bgu5hBdfch @GfK
— Joe Staton (@JoeStatonGfK) June 29, 2018
The latest Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report shows consumer confidence drops to the lowest point since May http://t.co/96B9bmNLhz
— Lloyds Bank News (@LloydsBankNews) September 28, 2015
Thomson Reuters also polled representative samples of UK-based economists who apparently worried most about the lack of unity at the heart of Theresa May's government at such a late stage in the negotiation process. Deep divisions have persisted over the closeness of the desired relationship with the EU after Brexit with both Hard Brexiteers and Remain supporters within the Conservative Party having repeatedly threatened the security of the Prime Minister's job if her negotiation strategy doesn't sufficiently represent their vision.