Theresa May to meet Donald Trump for talks in Davos - as IMF warns world growth will leave Brexit Britain trailing

Theresa May meets Donald Trump at The White House in January last year
Getty

Theresa May is to meet Donald Trump at the Davos summit of world leaders — which opened today with a warning that Britain will fail to see economic growth pick up as other nations surge ahead.

The Prime Minister will hold talks with the US president on Thursday at the World Economic Forum, which is taking place in the Swiss alpine resort.

Confirmation of the meeting will have come as a relief inside Downing Street after Mr Trump scrapped a visit to open the new US embassy in London.

As key figures from politics, business, academia and culture gathered for the summit, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its GDP growth forecasts for America, Germany, Japan, Brazil and Mexico for this year.

This contrasted with Britain, where the IMF expects growth to be 1.5 per cent in 2018, unchanged on in its autumn report. It also cut its forecast for next year by 0.1 points to 1.5 per cent.

Nicky Morgan MP, Conservative chairwoman of the Commons Treasury committee, said: “Only a few years ago the UK had the fastest growing economy in the G7. It is very galling to see us now slipping behind.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable added: “The Brexit vote hasn’t produced a catastrophic collapse but it has dampened investment and consumer confidence, leaving us to limp along.”

The IMF boosted its growth forecast for Germany by 0.5 percentage points for both this year and next, to 2.3 per cent and two per cent respectively.

In a remarkable turnaround, the eurozone area, which previously limped along compared to a buoyant British economy, is now set to easily outstrip it with growth of 2.2 per cent this year and two per cent in 2019.

A Treasury spokeswoman said: “We are building a Britain that is fit for the future by improving skills, backing innovation and investing in infrastructure to deliver a stronger economy and guarantee a better future for the next generation.”

Mr Trump recently pulled out of a visit to Britain to open the new embassy in Nine Elms, criticising its move from Grosvenor Square to an “off location”. Mr Trump faced protest in the UK were he to come here after retweeting far-Right group Britain First.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson visited the new embassy today and American ambassador to Britain Woody Johnson insisted “The embassy actually, is gonna really work.” Mr Tillerson also held talks with Mrs May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Iran and Yemen.

In a speech at Warwick University today, CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn was set to call for the UK to remain in a customs union after Brexit for the sake of business and jobs.

However, Brexit-backing former Cabinet minister Priti Patel urged Mrs May to ensure that Britain leaves the EU customs union, warning that this was the only way it could secure “the freedom to succeed”.

Former Treasury minister Lord O’Neill said he believed the UK economy would be boosted as world growth improves.

The IMF forecast for America is upped to 2.7 per cent this year and 2.5 for next. Brazil’s 2018 prediction rises to 1.9 per cent with Mexico on 2.3 per cent.

Even the forecast for stagnant Japan rises, by 0.5 points to 1.2 per cent. Global growth is upgraded by 0.2 percentage points for both years to 3.9 per cent.