Covid: Downing Street ‘optimistic’ about Pfizer vaccine breakthrough November 9, 2020 Downing Street is “optimistic” Pfizer’s Covid vaccine breakthrough will be approved by UK regulators, however they warned no decisions can be made before safety data is published by the company. Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told journalists today that the UK has 40m units of Pfizer’s vaccine trial on order if approved by UK regulators, with [...]
Brexit: EU negotiator Michel Barnier outlines three ways to close trade deal November 9, 2020 Chief Brussels negotiator Michel Barnier has said a post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal can be done if there is bilateral respect for each other’s sovereignty and autonomy as he arrives in London for new talks. Barnier and chief UK negotiator David Frost agreed to “redouble” efforts this week in order to get a deal done as [...]
Keir Starmer backs call to end 10pm pub and restaurant curfew November 9, 2020 Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has reportedly backed calls to end the 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants when the hospitality industry reopens following the ongoing nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The curfew, which forced hospitality businesses to close by 10pm, was criticised for funnelling punters into the streets and onto public transport all at once, making [...]
Putin ‘has noted’ Trump’s legal challenges to US presidential election November 9, 2020 Russian President Vladimir Putin will “wait” for an official result for the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced today, as incumbent Donald Trump lays down legal challenges to Joe Biden’s victory. While most world leaders rushed to shore up relations with Joe Biden over the weekend, Putin has remained silent on the Democrat’s election to [...]
Markets greet Biden presidency with sigh of relief November 9, 2020 Markets have celebrated a return to political normality after a five-day vote count in the US presidential election finally yielded a result over the weekend. Joe Biden on Saturday was elected the 46th President of the United states after winning the major battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Nevada, booting incumbent Donald Trump out of the White [...]
Weekly outlook, 9-13 November: Investors shift their focus back to the UK economy November 9, 2020 Investors were kept busy with the drama across the Atlantic last week, but they’ll soon want to focus back on the UK in what will be a busy week of results and economic updates. After a nail-biting election, markets will likely be considering the implication of a Biden presidency. But with GDP and unemployment figures [...]
Joe Biden ‘will not prioritise’ UK-US trade deal November 9, 2020 Joe Biden will reportedly not prioritise UK-US trade deal discussions in the first 100 days of his presidency. The president-elect has shown little interest in the talks and will focus instead on domestic legislation, an adviser to his campaign told the Telegraph. The Democrat would also face hurdles appointing his US trade representative to lead [...]
Joe Biden’s business in-tray: The President-elect’s most pressing issues November 9, 2020 President-elect Joe Biden will be entering the White House at a time when the US is facing stark crises on multiple fronts. The US is seeing a third wave of Covid with almost 240,000 deaths recorded, the economy is in a deep recession and the US’ federal climate policy is in need of reform. City [...]
Joe Biden must not let anti-capitalist climate zealots capture his presidency November 9, 2020 As the world prepares for the coming Biden administration, a fundamental question looms both for Americans and for the wider world: which Joe Biden will govern as President? He has long defined himself as a moderate, a centrist, a bipartisan consensus-finder — but recently his Democratic Party has moved significantly to the left, and in [...]
The government must stop treating us like a nation of prospective criminals November 9, 2020 Despite the Prime Minister previously cautioning the “misery” that a second national lockdown would invariably cause, last week MPs voted for the imposition of new restrictions. A difficult period looms. The new measures criminalise family meetings, deny individuals the freedom of assembly, prevent religious ceremonies from taking place, and give the police the power to [...]