Europe fears Brexit because it would unleash forces that could prove impossible to control June 17, 2016 In Britain, we inevitably focus most on how our departure from the EU would affect the UK. What the other countries in the EU mainly worry about, however, is how it would affect Europe. They are standing back, nervous that any intervention could be open to misinterpretation and be counter-productive, but they watch our referendum [...]
From Orlando to Jo Cox, please don’t play politics with tragedy June 17, 2016 In the wake of the Orlando massacre last weekend – with 49 people killed and another 53 people injured – I would like to call on America’s political elite to be silent. Not because there is nothing to say; not because there are no truths to be found; and not because there are no action plans to [...]
With the Bank of England warning of a sharp fall in sterling, would leaving the EU be a buying opportunity? June 17, 2016 Jason Hollands, managing director of Tilney Bestinvest, says Yes. A Leave vote will likely lead to a knee-jerk reaction in the markets, led by a sharp slide in sterling. However, far from hitting the panic button, I would see an indiscriminate slide in UK equities on the back of a Leave vote as a potential buying [...]
Jo Cox’s brutal killing is an attack on democracy June 16, 2016 There are many things that we take for granted in Britain. We had cause to reflect on this after the Orlando massacre, as we took some comfort from the fact that such atrocities are mercifully rare in this country. Today, after the senseless and shocking murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, we should pause once [...]
Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn: Tech businesses must not get carried away June 16, 2016 Dealmakers everywhere will be hoping that tech companies don’t get carried away by news this week that Microsoft has acquired LinkedIn for a considerable sum of money. On the face of it, Microsoft’s decision to pay $26.2bn (£18.5bn) for the social media company could seem excessive but the company will have completed detailed cost modelling exercises [...]
The workers’ Euros: Which side has won the argument on employment? June 16, 2016 The crucial game started well for the Leave team. They pressed the Remain team high up the pitch and, for at least the first half of the game, the Remain team were slow to respond. The Leave team said that there would be a “bonfire of Brussels regulations” and that this would free businesses from Brussels [...]
Brexit is a massive opportunity for Britain’s world-beating financial services industry June 16, 2016 So what will a vote to leave on 23 June mean for our financial services? Simply put, it will be business as usual but with a massive opportunity to leave behind the EU’s “one size fits all” regulation and develop our world-leading industry under a strict and independent Bank of England. Never again should the UK taxpayer [...]
The FCA’s new broom must act fast to revive confidence in the regulator June 16, 2016 Tonight Mansion House once again acts as host to the great and good of the City’s financial services fraternity. Amid inevitable chatter about the EU referendum vote and darkening global economic clouds, attention will turn to the imminent changing of the guard at the Financial Conduct Authority. Almost a year has passed since its first [...]
Has the chancellor completely undermined his credibility by pledging post-Brexit tax hikes? June 16, 2016 Andrew Allum, chairman of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says Yes. George Osborne’s credibility has been hanging by a thread for some time after missing just about every single fiscal target he’s ever set himself, but his latest contribution to the referendum debate is beyond the pale. He simply cannot possibly know the economic impact a leave vote [...]
Osborne’s Brexit Budget is blackmail based on fundamentally flawed economics June 15, 2016 I want to phone the police and ask them to arrest George Osborne and former chancellor Alistair Darling, and charge them with threatening behaviour. For that is exactly what the latest episode in Project Fear – the spending cuts and tax hikes the chancellor says he’d have to enact due to the economic impact of [...]