China accuses other countries of ‘bullying’ its tech firms September 8, 2020 China has pointed the finger at “individual countries” that it says are “bullying” others and “hunting” its tech companies, as tensions between Beijing and Washington continue to mount. It announced an initiative to establish global standards on data security today, in a similar strategy to the Trump administration’s Clean Network. The plan asks technology firms [...]
Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness picked to be next EU finance boss September 8, 2020 Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness is set to take over as the EU’s financial services commissioner as part of a mini reshuffle prompted by her fellow countryman Phil Hogan’s resignation. Former Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has been chosen to fill Hogan’s prestigious position as EU trade chief. He was previously in charge of financial services and [...]
‘No time for a show of virility’: Sadiq Khan on getting London moving again September 7, 2020 One of the largest criticisms of Sadiq Khan over his first mayoral term has been that he is more concerned about his personal PR and with making political gestures than with his job of running the nation’s capital. The mayor of London has been beset by attacks that he has increased spending on City Hall [...]
Brexit: Boris Johnson plans to breach withdrawal agreement to put trade talks in peril September 7, 2020 Boris Johnson is planning on bringing forward legislation this week that would reportedly put the UK in breach of its Brexit withdrawal agreement and would likely blow up trade negotiations with Brussels. The government will put forward its internal market bill on Wednesday, which will contain clauses that eliminate parts of the withdrawal agreement pertaining [...]
What could a Biden presidency mean for climate change investing? September 7, 2020 | City Talk Joe Biden in the White House, and potentially Democrats in control of the Senate too, could turbo-charge climate change as an investment theme. The US response to Covid-19 looks set to be the dominant election issue as we head towards the November polls. Myriad other issues also compete for voters’ attention, and climate change often [...]
Everybody loves a comeback and London’s could be glorious September 7, 2020 | Sponsored Given the amount of time we’ve spent in front of our TVs over the past few months, you’ll have no doubt seen the Government’s Brexit commercial which tells us to get prepared and get going for the UK’s new start. It ends, rather beautifully, with an aircraft taking off, presumably full of representatives from Britain’s [...]
DEBATE: Is criticism of the government plan for digital ID cards justified? September 7, 2020 Is criticism of the government plan to spend money on digital ID cards justified? Silkie Carlo, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, says YES. When Theresa May scrapped Blairite plans for national ID cards in 2010, she warned that they would “increase state control over law abiding people”. And yet, this is what the Johnson [...]
Public Health England dropped the ball on the pandemic — but the new restructuring offers hope September 7, 2020 Mike Tyson’s infamous line about everyone having a plan until they get punched in the mouth could be the epitaph for Public Health England. The quango made many mistakes in its response to Covid-19, but planning for an influenza epidemic was perhaps the most fatal. PHE had swine flu, rather than the SARS coronavirus, in [...]
Putin holds all the cards in Belarus September 7, 2020 One of the greatest problems in political risk analysis is that the heart so often gets the better of the head. Because we want a political outcome to happen, we think that it will. Karmic justice must apply to all situations in history, with the good rewarded and the bad punished. But this is to [...]
Boris Johnson says a no-deal exit from EU would be ‘a good outcome’ September 6, 2020 Boris Johnson has said leaving the post-Brexit transition period without a trade deal would be “a good outcome” as he sets 15 October as the deadline to reach an agreement with Brussels. Johnson said in a statement that “there is no sense” in thinking about negotiating timelines beyond 15 October, but that “there is still [...]