Twin threats of Brexit and Scoxit will mar a good result for the City May 10, 2015 “Were you up for Balls?” Or more likely, “were you up in time for Balls?” Reminiscent of “were you up for Portillo in 1997?”, former shadow chancellor Ed Balls’s loss of his seat was one of the most memorable moments in an astonishing General Election which will have far reaching implications for the country. It [...]
After an utterly disastrous election, is there a future for the Labour party as a political force? May 10, 2015 Chris Rumfitt, chief executive of Corporate Reputation Consulting, says Yes. There is no understating the scale of Labour’s defeat last week. Almost wiped out in Scotland, the party fared little better in England, where it barely made inroads into the Tories – even against the low water mark of 2010. But Labour can bounce back [...]
Why the next government must not take economic recovery for granted May 7, 2015 With results still likely to be trickling in from yesterday’s General Election, it is worth reminding ourselves that, whichever party – or combination of parties – ends up forming the next government, they will be faced with the same economic conditions. By and large, these are fairly good. But the recovery should not be taken [...]
It’s crunch time for London’s competitiveness – and alarm bells are ringing May 7, 2015 THE BIG question for London’s business community this morning is this: will our new government, whatever its make-up, help keep Britain open for business? London gives the UK a place on the world stage, and is the country’s principal gateway for investment and tourism. Last year, the city’s success allowed it to contribute £34bn more [...]
Why biotechnology is brewing a big bubble May 7, 2015 THE dot-com bubble of the 2000s is remembered as a period of mania, when investors cast aside time-honoured principles of how to analyse corporate health. In a kind of mass hysteria, sensible metrics such as sales, profit growth and cashflow were cast aside, and the market went bananas for fast-growing firms with plans to change [...]
As EU leaders say Grexit would be catastrophic, can we expect a deal sooner rather than later? May 7, 2015 Christian Schulz is senior economist at Berenberg, says Yes Syriza’s devastating reform reversals and reckless negotiating have weakened Greece so much that it will soon have to accept Troika demands. Empty public coffers, record deposit outflows, dwindling taxpayer morale, the Tsipras recession and the predictable failure to get Russian or Chinese funding have left Athens [...]
General Election 2015: Why I will be voting Conservative, by Morgan McKinley’s Hakan Enver May 6, 2015 The most fiercely contested and unpredictable General Election for a generation has finally arrived. I wanted to share why it is important that the City of London, and in particular the banking and financial services sector, shows support and unity in voting for the Conservative Party today. With no clear frontrunner and despite recent surges [...]
General Election 2015: Why I will be voting Labour, by Simon Franks May 6, 2015 As a nation, today we need to decide which party is most likely to deliver the kind of society we want. The society I want is balanced, dynamic, outward looking, just, entrepreneurial, and meritocratic. A society full of opportunities for all, regardless of where you live, what your parents do, or what type of school [...]
Should Britain leave the EU? Why the economics are still far from settled on Brexit question May 6, 2015 From an Empire where the sun never set, to an EU where the economic sun doesn’t shine; that’s Britain’s geopolitical journey over the past century. So which way now? Can we re-discover the entrepreneurial vision that took a small island to global pre-eminence, or will we remain tied down by a collective loss of confidence? [...]
Would it be legitimate for the second largest party post-election to form a government? May 6, 2015 Andrew Hawkins, chairman of ComRes, says Yes The second largest party did indeed win the February 1974 Election (a poll with ominous similarities to 2015), when Harold Wilson won four more seats than Edward Heath but received 230,000 fewer votes. Yet it was not thought a constitutional outrage. Even if a party does come second [...]