The UK government’s crackdown on encryption threatens to undermine London’s fintech boom February 10, 2017 Talk of calamity befalling corporate Britain as we negotiate our EU exit is typically overblown. Nevertheless there is a potentially serious conflict in the making between the UK government’s stated desire to maintain access to certain online data for reasons of national security and the continental European determination to institute a modern system of information [...]
Post-Brexit Britain will be a paradise for lobbyists – and it’s not necessarily a bad thing February 10, 2017 Picture the scene: a small conglomerate of agricultural businesses demand a meeting with their local legislator. They tell her their businesses will go bust if she does not vote against a forthcoming trade agreement and they indicate no further donations to her party will be made if she does not speak out more against the deal. [...]
As government plays down its threat to abolish the House of Lords over Article 50, is it time for it to go anyway? February 10, 2017 Chris Snowdon, director of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says Yes. There was a time when the House of Lords defended our ancient liberties against mendacious governments. The whole idea of unelected politicians is problematic. In a perfect world, we would have democracy and liberty but, if I may speak candidly, so [...]
UK high street records worst January sales performance for four years February 10, 2017 The embattled UK high street has had its worst January of trading for the last four years, according to new figures, with fashion retailers taking the biggest hit. Like-for-like sales on the high street fell by 0.1 per cent in January, as compared to the same month last year, according to figures from accountancy firm [...]
Prodigal Londoners outspend the rest of the country by hundreds of thousands February 10, 2017 London households can expect to burn through £2.3m over the course of a lifetime, dwarfing the UK’s average expenditure by almost half a million. Investment manager Tilney unveiled the discrepancy in its Cost of Tomorrow Report, which also revealed that the average British household has spent their first million by the age of 50, while [...]
Treasury Committee chair tells City watchdog to spill the beans on RBS’ GRG February 10, 2017 The chair of the influential Treasury Committee is today calling on the City watchdog to reveal more details from its review into Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The bank was accused of purposely pushing small businesses into GRG, and effectively driving them into the ground for its own gain. Last November, the Financial [...]
Opponents to President Donald Trump’s travel ban have a reason to celebrate February 9, 2017 US President Donald Trump has been dealt a fresh blow, as the court-ordered suspension of his controversial executive order to ban passport-holders from seven majority-Muslim countries entering the US has been upheld. Following the ruling, Trump tweeted: “See you in court, the security of our nation is at stake.” A US federal appeals court has just unanimously upheld a [...]
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp posts second loss in a row amid print advertising headwinds February 9, 2017 Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the owner of Dow Jones Newswires, The Wall Street Journal and The Times, has posted its second quarterly loss in a row. Read more: Rupert Murdoch pleads with newspaper to stop using "fake news" quote The figures The company has had difficulty offsetting the decline in advertising income in its newspaper business. [...]
HS2 payments to incoming chief executive’s firm CH2M surge from £1.4m to £32.5m in four years February 9, 2017 High Speed Two payments to its incoming chief executive’s company have surged, as the rail project awarded another contract to CH2M today. New figures have revealed that CH2M – where HS2’s new boss Mark Thurston is head of European operations; he joins HS2 in the spring – has been paid increasing amounts from HS2 over the [...]
HS2 announces flurry of new contracts including another for CH2M – the firm of its chief exec-to-be February 9, 2017 New contracts have been awarded for the second phase of HS2, including one for CH2M – HS2's incoming chief executive's company. The announcement comes after questions were asked over Mark Thurston's appointment last month and possible conflicts of interest. Thurston joins from his post managing European affairs at CH2M in the spring. American engineering giant CH2M is already the engineering delivery [...]