MNI BRIEF: BOE Taylor Says He's An Activist, Clear Easing Case

Bank of England external Monetary Policy Committee member Alan Taylor, one of two members who backed a 50 basis point cut in May, described himself as "being a bit activist" and said he had supported faster easing because, looking at energy prices, weak activity surveys and evidence of slowing pay growth, he had the clarity he needed to justifying easing.

Speaking at the BOE 'Watchers' conference Taylor cited a series of international factors, the fall in oil and gas prices and declining activity, that had pointed to policy easing.

Taylor said one thing that might make him rethink was "if there was a surprising amount of progress on the international trade war situation " with a reversion to "the tariffs that we had six months ago. But I think it's going to take a while, and I don't know if we're going to get even halfway back there," he said, adding that the UK-US trade deal is "quite slender."