Bullish Hammond warns the UK will “fight back” if unable to secure a Brexit deal March 5, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned European member states the UK "has a fighting spirit" and will not "slink off as a wounded animal" if Brexit talks collapse. Prime Minister Theresa May will fire the starting gun on negotiations later this month, and Hammond today warned that Britain will do "whatever it takes" to remain competitive. [...]
Ed Balls is refusing to rule out a return to Westminster politics March 5, 2017 Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls is refusing to rule out a return to the world of Westminster politics, but the one-time Strictly Come Dancing contestant may not reappear for a little while. Speaking on Peston on Sunday, Balls said "never say never" when asked about whether he would seek to become an MP once again, [...]
Budget 2017: The government’s promised £500m to get young people into higher paying jobs in technical training shake-up March 5, 2017 The government is promising to invest £500m a year in technical training for young people to ensure they have the high level skills needed by businesses in the future, in a huge shake up designed to boost the country's productivity. The radical overhaul of post-16 education will see a dizzying array of 13,000 different qualifications whittled [...]
Scotland’s Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life are mulling an £11bn merger March 5, 2017 Two of Britain's top fund managers are in talks about one of the most significant mergers in the City for years, it has been confirmed. Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life have been holding talks about a merger which could valued at £11bn, Sky News first reported. The Scotland-based companies employ more than 9,000 people and [...]
This chart shows what’s changed since since the Bank of England began its quantitative easing programme in 2009 March 4, 2017 Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of the Bank of England (BoE)'s quantitative easing (QE) programme and of interest rates being cut to the "emergency" level of 0.5 per cent. It also happens to be the deadline for written submission to the treasury select committee's enquiry into the effectiveness and impact of the post-2008 monetary policy. Laith Khalaf, senior [...]
Now Trump has accused Obama of tapping phones at Trump Tower without giving evidence March 4, 2017 Donald Trump has gone on another Twitter tirade. Today, the US President is accusing former President Barack Obama of wire tapping his phones in Trump Tower during the later stages of the US election, but he gave no evidence to support the allegation. Trump tweeted: "This is McCarthyism!" and said he "just found out" Obama tapped his [...]
Sinn Fein celebrates an “amazing day” as it closes the gap on the DUP March 4, 2017 The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) held its title as Northern Ireland's biggest party after assembly election results were revealed last night, but Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein closed the gap after seeing its highest voter turnout since 1998. Just over 1,000 votes split the main parties in the closest ever assembly election – and voter turnout was at its highest [...]
Raise a glass: Britain’s beer exports rose in 2016, making it the third most valuable food or drink export March 4, 2017 British beer exports rose six per cent in 2016 according to new figures published by the HMRC, making beer the UK's third most valuable food and drink export. Chinese interest in British beer skyrocketed last year, rising 500 per cent following pictures of Chinese President Xi Jinping enjoying a pint with former Prime Minister David Cameron in [...]
Uber used a secret technology called Greyball to hide from regulators and avoid being shut down March 4, 2017 The blows just keep coming for Uber. It's now been revealed that for years the ride-hailing app has deceived regulators in areas where its services were resisted or banned by authorities by using a secret technology. Greyball, a programme that uses data from the Uber app and other technologies, was created to protect the firm from "violations [...]
Boris Johnson is traveling to Russia for “high-level” talks March 4, 2017 Foreign secretary Boris Johnson will travel to Moscow for "high-level" talks in the coming weeks, making him the first minister to travel to Russia for a state visit in more than five years. The talks will focus on UK-Russia relations and international issues like Syria and Ukraine where the two countries "continue to have significant differences", said a [...]