Forget Obama’s self-interested intervention: Brexit would boost Britain’s global influence May 12, 2016 Would Britain be more or less influential in the world if we left the EU? The Remain camp argument is very clear: we would lose influence with exit and we can get better trade deals from within the EU than without. On top of that, President Obama and former secretary-generals of Nato all say that [...]
Was the European Commission right to block the Three-O2 merger? May 12, 2016 Jacques Lafitte, chief executive of Avisa Partners in Brussels and a former senior EU Commission official, says Yes. The Commission was right to block this merger. The decision appears to be based on robust legal and economic grounds. These are tricky decisions. The Commission vetoes on average one merger a year, and this decision is the [...]
After the EU’s O2-Three merger decision, five questions for the UK mobile market May 11, 2016 Hutchison’s bid for O2 has been turned down in Europe. Here are five questions the UK mobile market is asking today Continued competition… Ofcom initially rejected the merger based on evidence that fewer competitors results in less pressure to keep prices down. It’s that same fear which informed today’s decision, despite assurances from Hutchison of a five year [...]
The EU’s block of the O2-Three merger proves why we need to vote remain May 11, 2016 This morning, the European Competition Commission blocked the proposed merger of O2 and Three mobile. The £10.5bn deal, which would have created the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, was blocked on the grounds that it would have reduced competition and meant less choice for consumers. While the ruling was made at European level, the merger would [...]
EU referendum: Remain or Leave – a matter of war and peace? May 11, 2016 Invoking Blenheim, Trafalgar, Waterloo, the Great War, and the Battle of Britain, as arguments for UK engagement with Europe and the world was provocative and historically questionable, but to use these conflicts to support UK membership of the EU as essential is just daft. This is dishonest Remain-style parody of “Leave”. No one is advocating [...]
Northern Powerhouse: Businesses and government have a collective responsibility to end youth unemployment and close the skills gap May 11, 2016 With youth unemployment three times the national average, and businesses across all sectors citing the skills gap as one of the biggest barriers to growth, the talent pipeline is one of the most pressing issues facing England’s economy. It is for this reason that today’s announcement by the secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, of a new [...]
Don’t hold your breath for EU referendum facts May 11, 2016 On the eve of the 1986 Reykjavik Summit between Gorbachev and Reagan, the US President sought the advice of historian Suzanne Massie, who told him of the old Russian saying: “Trust, but verify.” This piece of wisdom, offered to a President at the height of the Cold War, is perhaps the best approach that today's [...]
Airbnb books place among young savvy travellers May 11, 2016 The tourism industry has been shaken up in dramatic fashion in the past couple of years by the pioneering startup company Airbnb. The company operates in 34,000 cities in 191 countries and has a value of around $25bn (£17.3bn). It allows ordinary homeowners to rent out rooms to holidaymakers, and is popular among those looking [...]
How the Treasury cooked the books in calculating the impact of Brexit May 11, 2016 Three weeks ago, the Treasury released its report into the long-term implications of Brexit, predicting widespread economic destruction. There will soon be a sequel, analysing what the short-term impacts of leaving the EU might be. One doubts you’ll need the foresight of those who successfully predicted a Leicester City Premier League victory to guess what [...]
Is Britain on the edge of recession? History is an unreliable guide to the future May 11, 2016 Concerns are growing about a marked slowdown in the UK economy. The Lloyds Bank purchasing managers’ index, for example, fell to 52.1 in April, its lowest point since 2013. The initial estimate for GDP, total output, in the first quarter of this year shows an increase of just 0.4 per cent on the final quarter [...]