Good morning. Rachel Reeves is gearing up for a renewed growth push following the May elections, as her allies work to quell the Labour Party unrest that's been swirling around her chancellorship. Meanwhile, UK ministers are digging in their heels against aligning with EU AI regulations, worried about both damaging Britain's tech sector and potentially straining the crucial US alliance. This resistance comes as the government tries to chart its own course in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
On a more sobering note, the UK has posted the steepest decline in healthy life expectancy among wealthy nations, with poor housing, obesity, and deprivation effects being flagged as key culprits. King Charles is heading to the US for what's being described as a critical state visit aimed at revitalizing the relationship between London and Washington, coming at a particularly tense moment in Anglo-American relations. The timing couldn't be more significant, especially after a gunman disrupted Trump's dinner with the press at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, adding another layer of complexity to an already fraught diplomatic moment.