The Japanese Prime Minister’s visit is a chance to celebrate our friendship with like-minded nations January 10, 2019 I sometimes find that foreign leaders are more aware of Britain’s national strengths than we are at home. So let me itemise a few of them. The UK has the fifth biggest economy in the world, the third biggest overseas aid budget, the second largest military budget in Nato, and a world-class diplomatic network, including [...]
Chris Tremlett: New England director of cricket Ashley Giles can hit the ground running ahead of exciting year January 9, 2019 Ashley Giles’s appointment as England’s new director of cricket comes at an exciting time. Changes of management in sport often come at a time of crisis, but England are in a stable position and looking forward to a World Cup and Ashes series on home soil this summer. While the circumstances of Andrew Strauss’s departure [...]
Will this be a year for investors to fear? January 9, 2019 A new year always offers the chance of a reset, of evolved thoughts, ideas and insights. Even though many will be pleased to see the back of 2018, numerous investors are beginning this year with new concerns: an oncoming recession. This fear seems suddenly rampant among many of my colleagues in the industry. But these fears [...]
Five ways to clean up your buy-to-let portfolio in 2019 January 9, 2019 While January is a great time to be making financial resolutions, with many over-spending at Christmas, it’s sometimes best to concentrate on making the most of what you already have. For 2.5m people owning £1.4 trillion of buy-to-let, investment property is the best place to start. It comprises an enormous part of personal wealth, it [...]
DEBATE: Should the government cut the number of university courses and places to ensure value for money? January 9, 2019 Should the government cut the number of university courses and places to ensure value for money? Gillian Keegan MP, parliamentary private secretary to the Treasury and co-author of the foreword to the Onward report, says YES. The government should cut the number of low-value university places and steer people towards better options. Analysis of government [...]
Europe has suffered from the stultifying impact of the euro – just ask the Greeks January 9, 2019 One of the entertainments of the holiday period was reading Adults In The Room, the book by Yanis Varoufakis. It describes his time as finance minister of Greece, and his negotiations with the IMF, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission. Varoufakis was only in the job between January and July 2015. He had [...]
Instability is the new norm, and banks must learn to weather it January 9, 2019 Global financial markets stumbled into 2019, having endured their worst December since 1931. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indices fell by nearly nine per cent over the Christmas month. For the financial sector, this has refocused attention on the worsening political and economic backdrop for 2019. Politically, instability is becoming the new [...]
The Brexit film was fun, but don’t mistake fiction for history January 9, 2019 I expect, as a piece of history that the vast majority of viewers will have lived through and probably voted in, that Brexit: The Uncivil War was highly entertaining to most people who caught it on Monday night, irrespective of which way they had voted in the EU referendum. There was some impressive acting and [...]
Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Son of Frankel to show he’s Simply Brilliant in Group class January 8, 2019 A STAR-studded cast lines up for the Group Three January Cup (Handicap) over 1m1f at 1.45pm – Happy Valley’s only Group race. Hong Kong champion and two-time Group One-winner Time Warp heads the weights and returns to action following a creditable third behind Glorious Forever in the HK Cup on International Day at Sha Tin [...]
Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Cannon can fire at Valley’s first meet of the year January 8, 2019 HAPPY Valley hosts its first meeting of 2019 today and favourite-backers will be hoping it proves as profitable as the Sha Tin action on New Year’s Day. Eight of the market leaders came home in front during the 11-race card. However, that hasn’t been a regular occurrence in Hong Kong this season. Especially at Happy [...]