EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tests positive for coronavirus March 19, 2020 The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said today he has tested positive for coronavirus. Barnier, a former French foreign affairs minister, has been the European Commission’s chief negotiator with the UK throughout the Brexit process. Today, Barnier tweeted that he had tested positive for novel coronavirus Covid-19. “I would like to inform you [...]
DEBATE: Is there a case for the UK government bailing out airlines in the midst of the coronavirus crisis? March 19, 2020 Is there a case for the UK government bailing out airlines in the midst of the coronavirus crisis? YES, says Rob Burgess, editor of headforpoints.com, the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website. There are many reasons not to bail out companies — it is wrong to reward stupidity, bad management, corruption, or those who failed to [...]
It’s time to self-isolate from social media’s armchair experts March 19, 2020 You can tell whether a news story is really, properly serious by the degree to which people develop instant expertise. Back in 2008, all sorts of people who didn’t know an asset from a debt suddenly started holding forth confidently about balance sheet liabilities and CDO-Squareds. A few years later, in the wake of the [...]
IFS says ‘unfair’ council tax system needs urgent reform March 19, 2020 The current council tax regime is “arbitrary and unfair” and should be overhauled as a part of the government’s levelling up agenda, according to a leading economic think tank. A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has called on the government to update the way council tax is calculated to make it [...]
Coronavirus: Rishi Sunak leaves door open for ‘helicopter money’ strategies March 18, 2020 A wave of government cash handouts could be given to individuals and businesses if the scale of the economic downturn from coronavirus is worse than expected, according to Rishi Sunak. Sunak told the Treasury Select Committee he was “looking at every tool” to weather the economic storm and that “more macroeconomic, economy-wide solutions than targeted [...]
Government set to use mobile signals to monitor virus outbreak March 18, 2020 The government has approached the UK’s mobile operators about using phone signals as part of its efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Officials are in talks with O2, Vodafone, EE and Three over tracking data from the UK’s 84m active mobile devices to help authorities fight the pandemic. The data is anonymised — meaning individuals [...]
Barristers push for suspension of jury trials during coronavirus outbreak March 18, 2020 Barristers have continued to push the government to suspend jury trials amid risks to the health of court users and jurors during the coronavirus outbreak. Late last night the head of the judiciary said that all jury trials longer than three days would be suspended. The Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland today reinforced last night’s decision, [...]
Coronavirus cases top 200,000 worldwide March 18, 2020 The number of worldwide confirmed cases of coronavirus has surpassed 200,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US university released figures today showing there had been 201,530 recorded Covid-19 cases, and that the worldwide death toll had reached 8,006. China still has the most number of confirmed infections with 81,102, followed by Italy on 31,506, [...]
Coronavirus: WHO says Asian countries must take ‘aggressive measures’ March 18, 2020 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that some Asian nations need to take “aggressive measures” to stop the spread of coronavirus as the number of confirmed worldwide cases inches toward 200,000 and the death toll reaches 7,500. The WHO warning was aimed toward South East Asian countries amidst fears that numbers could soon surge [...]
DEBATE: Is now the time for the UK to trial a temporary Universal Basic Income? March 18, 2020 Is now the time for the UK to trial a temporary Universal Basic Income? YES, says Julian Jessop, an economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. In normal times, cash payments regardless of individual need would be too expensive, poorly targeted, and distortionary. It is therefore right to use existing means-tested benefits (notably universal [...]