Coronavirus: TfL set to lose £500m from decline in passengers March 16, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) is expecting to lose up to £500m from the impact of coronavirus and will ask the government for financial support. In the past week, passenger numbers on the Tube were down by 19 per cent year-on-year, while bus passenger numbers fell by 10 per cent. The transport body said the figures [...]
EU rejects UK’s call for quick agreement on financial services equivalence March 16, 2020 The EU’s head of financial regulation has rejected the UK’s calls for the City’s future access to the bloc’s markets to be settled by the end of June, warning that Brussels’ decision will be based on the extent Britain wants to deviate from EU rules. UK chancellor Rishi Sunak last month called on the EU [...]
Second MP tests positive for coronavirus March 16, 2020 A second MP has tested positive for coronavirus, while others have announced they are self-isolating, as Covid-19 continues to spread throughout the country. Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow, announced this morning she had tested positive for the virus “following a period of self isolation and subsequent testing”. She added: “I will continue to self [...]
Coronavirus: Downing Street to hold daily press conferences to keep public informed March 16, 2020 The government will hold daily televised press conferences to keep the public informed about the coronavirus outbreak, after coming under fire for its approach this weekend. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his senior ministers including health secretary Matt Hancock will go before the cameras alongside the chief medical officer Chris Witty and the chief scientific [...]
Muppets with knives: Donald Trump and Christine Lagarde have turned the coronavirus crisis into an economic disaster March 16, 2020 “It is hard to soar with Eagles when you work with turkeys.” — Sam the American Eagle, Muppet. As everyone remotely connected with business and government knows, there is a great danger in advancing obviously overmatched people not up to the job. Promoting “muppets” (which, with apologies to Kermit the Frog, is the nickname we used [...]
UK immigration no longer ‘top of mind’ issue, says new report March 16, 2020 Immigration is no longer a “top of the mind” issue for Britons, according to new research. A report from think tank British Future found immigration ranked as the ninth most important issues for voters, with 41 per cent saying they rated the issue as “very important”. The pro-immigration think tank said this was in contrast [...]
Exclusive: Sadiq Khan to hold emergency economic summit March 15, 2020 City A.M. understands that London mayor Sadiq Khan has convened an emergency meeting of business leaders, being held tomorrow, to listen to the concerns of the capital’s firms. “The moves in the Budget were welcome but there’s an understanding that some of them won’t go far enough for businesses in the capital,” a source close [...]
Government criticised for its communications strategy on coronavirus March 15, 2020 The government has been criticised for its communication strategy over the coronavirus pandemic, after news of new quarantine measures were leaked to the press before they were formally announced. ITV reported news of the government’s plan to force over-70s into isolation for up to four months came this morning. ITV was briefed on the measure [...]
HS2: Transport department defends top civil servant over transparency row March 15, 2020 The Department for Transport (DfT) has denied its top civil servant broke the civil service code of conduct as she faces accusations she withheld information on HS2’s budget blowouts. City A.M. reported earlier this month that DfT permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly admitted she did not tell parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) she knew HS2 was [...]
US and Germany scrap over coronavirus vaccine company March 15, 2020 Berlin is trying to prevent Washington from persuading a German company working on a coronavirus vaccine to move to the US. German government sources told news agency Reuters that the US was looking into how it could gain access to a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by German pharmaceuticals company Curevac. German newspaper the Welt [...]