John McCain was a champion against pork barrel spending August 28, 2018 Millions of words have been written about US senator John McCain since his death last weekend. He has rightly been lauded as a statesman, a hero, a maverick (his own term) – but one accolade that has been missing is his role as a champion for taxpayers. Given his military background and heroism during the [...]
Voters believe Jeremy Corbyn would divide post-Brexit Britain, according to a new poll August 28, 2018 The 2017 General Election seems like a long time ago, such is the degree of political jockeying to have taken place in the intervening period – yet not even 15 months have passed since Jeremy Corbyn shocked analysts by eliminating Prime Minister Theresa May's parliamentary majority. Labour's strong showing in that election was pinned on [...]
Three quarters of adult smokers bought tax-free tobacco at least once last year as higher taxes bite August 28, 2018 Three quarters of adult smokers bought tobacco that has not been taxed in the UK at least once in the last year, a survey by the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA) found. Around 76 per cent of smokers buy untaxed tobacco at least once a year – this can be from legal sources such as duty free but also [...]
DEBATE: Will new non-EU free trade deals offset the potential costs of Brexit to the UK economy? August 28, 2018 Will new non-EU free trade deals offset the potential costs of Brexit to the UK economy? John Longworth, co-chairman of Leave means Leave and former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says YES. Quite apart from the political benefits of Brexit – liberty and self-determination – the economic benefits are vast: better regulation, [...]
Tiffany’s unveils higher than expected sales and profits August 28, 2018 Iconic jeweller Tiffany & Co. reported better than expected sales and profit growth today, with higher sales across all products and several geographies. The figures Worlwdwide net sales rose 12 per cent to $1.1bn (£850m) in the second quarter, while net earnings were up 26 per cent to $145m. This was driven by a particularly [...]
The US sanctions against Iran could start a war in the European commercial courts August 28, 2018 The reimpositions of US sanctions against Iran may be designed to be aggressive while remaining a fair distance short of actual war, but violent battles may be about to commence in the European courts. The cause is a big difference in tone and intent between Washington and Brussels. “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be [...]
Private equity firm Apollo takes Aspen Insurance private in $2.6bn deal August 28, 2018 Aspen Insurance said today that funds associated with private equity firm Apollo Global Management had agreed to take it private in a $2.6bn deal. The Bermuda-headquartered insurer, which is listed in the US, has significant UK operations with offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Chelmsford, Croydon, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester. Apollo will pay $42.75 per share, [...]
The impact of a no-deal Brexit should set off alarm bells for the City’s finance firms August 28, 2018 Last week, the government produced papers assessing the impact of a no-deal Brexit scenario on various sectors, including financial services. It is concerning for the sector that a no-deal scenario is looking increasingly likely. The Bank of England governor Mark Carney ranks this possibility as “uncomfortably high”, while foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested that there [...]
Sports Direct slams ‘greedy’ House of Fraser landlords August 28, 2018 Mike Ashley's Sports Direct has slammed "greedy landlords" as the group conducts discussions over the future of 59 House of Fraser stores. Several branches of the department store chain which were due to close in early 2019 have been given a reprieve after the new owners negotiated with landlords. But the fate of several shops [...]
Revealed: The skills that will get you jobs with the highest salaries August 28, 2018 Automation isn’t just putting lower-earning jobs at risk; it’s a threat to higher-earning roles too. While AI is putting the likes of customer service agents’ roles are under threat , the technology could replace up to half of banking jobs too, according to Barclays’ former boss Antony Jenkins. Read more: Technology could replace half of [...]