Editorial: Chancellor’s move is a five-point-turn that has already cost jobs November 5, 2020 If it wasn’t such a serious matter, Rishi Sunak’s description of his furlough u-turn today as the result of a flexible and agile approach would have been darkly comic. Because a U-turn it most certainly is, albeit not of the handbrake variety. Instead, it has been by degree, a five-point turn that has already cost [...]
Chancellor’s furlough extension ‘the right call’, say business bodies November 5, 2020 Business bodies have welcomed the chancellor’s extension of the furlough scheme until the end of March as “the right call”, but warned there was “more to do” to help businesses through winter lockdowns. Rishi Sunak today announced additional financial support for employees across the UK unable to work amid national lockdowns. The government will pay up [...]
Rishi Sunak extends furlough scheme until end of March November 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme until the end of March, following days of wrangling over fresh financial support for businesses during the second national lockdown. The furlough scheme, which was due to wind down last Saturday, will be rolled out for the next five months — a year after it was first [...]
Take the edge off the US election with a bourbon cocktail November 5, 2020 With the Presidential election still dragging on, you could be forgiven for having somewhat frayed nerves right now. Will it be resolved with decisive-enough wins in the outstanding states? Will it end up in the courts? Will it lead to the death of democracy and civil conflict? As if 2020 was already stressful enough, without [...]
The polls failed again, and blindsided businesses are crying out for better corporate intelligence November 5, 2020 So Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. Or Donald Trump will squeeze home (though, at the time of writing, that seems less likely). It has been a nerve-wracking 48 hours for anyone who watches US politics — and one of the reasons for that is that commentators and pollsters got [...]
Separatist Scots beware: A new Scottish currency would be catastrophic November 5, 2020 Some 12 out of the last 15 opinion polls on Scottish secession have shown majority support for splitting up the United Kingdom. During a period of unprecedented crisis, Scots have chosen to rally round the flag — only this time the flag is that of Scotland, not the UK. However, while polling numbers may be unnerving [...]
There is another way out of these Hotel California lockdowns November 5, 2020 With the nights now drawing in, the weather growing more miserable by the day, and another lockdown starting today, this is beginning to feel more like being trapped in the Hotel California. We’re all just prisoners here, of our own device. But what if there was a better way out? According to official figures, Covid-19 [...]
How the Democrats threw away their shot to topple Trumpism November 4, 2020 The US election has not delivered the Joe Biden landslide that many were anticipating. Instead, the Democratic candidate appears to be limping towards a narrow Electoral College victory, which may well end up in the courts. Even if The Donald is beaten, he is hardly vanquished, and the Democrats also look like they’ve failed to [...]
Evening update: What we know about the US election race November 4, 2020 After an action packed day of ballot counting in the Midwest, we now have a much clearer picture of the final results of the 2020 US presidential election. As this reporter went to bed early this morning in D.C., Trump held solid leads in the three election-deciding states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. However, things [...]
FTSE 100 closes higher and US stocks jump amid election uncertainty November 4, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed on a high and US stocks shot up as traders sought out the safety of recent corporate success stories in the face of a knife-edge presidential election. Wall Street’s major indices all opened higher as the race for the White House went down to the wire, despite investors remaining worried about [...]