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 [...]
The City of London will prosper in or out of the European Union June 15, 2016 A friend tells me why he is voting Remain. “My wife works for a French bank and they would pull out of London if we left the EU.” That’s fair enough. Assuming the French bank set up in London to access the EU, then it’s logical to assume it would leave after Brexit. But a [...]
Old Europe’s poor record on innovation is a harbinger of long-term stagnation – but don’t expect an easy divorce June 15, 2016 The economic debate around Brexit has been disappointing, with far too many of the points focusing on the short term. Would Brexit precipitate a sterling crisis? Well, if it did, at some point the currency would bounce back. Would it tip us into a recession? Maybe, but recessions come to an end. The key economic [...]
How the EU referendum is literally playing tricks with your mind June 15, 2016 Leading Brexiters agree that we’ll be financially worse off if we exit the EU, at least in the short term. So if leaving makes us poorer, why are so many prepared to vote for it? The credit goes to Vote Leave, the Derren Brown of politics, who are brilliantly managing our cognitive biases and, literally, [...]