How will the pound perform in 2020? February 19, 2020 | City Talk Brexit cast a long shadow over the pound in 2019, but what will 2020 have in store for sterling? Caution from the Bank of England and faltering economic results were all seen through the lens of Brexit. Now while the focus may move slightly from the challenges of uncertainty due to a political impasse, the [...]
DEBATE: Should we be concerned about rumours of potential Chinese involvement with HS2? February 19, 2020 Should we be concerned about rumours of potential Chinese involvement with building HS2? Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, says YES. The government’s decision to permit Huawei to be involved in building our 5G network has exposed the acute lack of an overarching strategy around Britain’s engagement with China. No doubt, this [...]
Free speech risks being sacrificed on the altar of offence culture February 19, 2020 Harry Miller never considered that he might be national news-worthy. A former police officer turned businessman, during late 2018 he posted a series of tweets which questioned the biological sex of transgender individuals. One of his musings stated “I was assigned mammal at birth, but my orientation is fish. Don’t mis-species me.” What should have [...]
Time for the Treasury to get with the programme — Britain can afford to spend February 19, 2020 In the days of the old Soviet Union, so-called Kremlinologists would pore over every utterance of the Politburo, every sentence in Pravda, to try to work out what was really going on. Sajid Javid’s defenestration from the Treasury has led to an upsurge in similar types of intellectual effort here. What was it really all [...]
Employers told to break reliance on ‘cheap EU labour’ February 18, 2020 Employer groups are already pushing back after being warned that the UK’s new work visa system will block them from relying on “cheap EU labour”. Home secretary Priti Patel will today add more detail to plans for expanding the points-based work visa system to include EU migrant workers — which will replace freedom of movement [...]
Brexit: EU hints at demand for Elgin Marbles in trade talks February 18, 2020 The EU is fighting back over Downing Street’s rejection of so-called level-playing field rules – and hinted that it may call for “cultural objects” to be removed from the UK. In a revised version of the negotiating mandate that Michel Barnier is expected to use when talks resume next week, the EU Council made clear [...]
Winter Economic Update Webinar with Vicky Pryce February 18, 2020 | City Talk Register for the webinar to join moneycorp for their Winter Economic Update on Tuesday 25th February at 1pm GMT. The global economy has endured a turbulent start to 2020, affecting the currency markets and minds of investors around the world at the same time. With January already seeing the UK leave the EU, escalating tension [...]
Chancellor and Prime Minister to thrash out details of Budget as March deadline stays February 18, 2020 The new chancellor Rishi Sunak will meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Westminster tomorrow, as the pair thrash out the details of next month’s Budget. Sunak, who was parachuted into the role on Thursday after Sajid Javid’s surprise resignation, confirmed this morning that the Budget will be going ahead on 11 March, despite the shake-up [...]
Sadiq Khan calls for UK citizens to be made EU ‘associate citizens’ February 18, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called for Brussels to continue to allow British citizens freedom of movement within the EU with “associate citizenship” status. Khan met with Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt in Brussels today, who has been a long-time proponent of the idea, to discuss the possibility of allowing British nationals to travel and work in EU [...]
Andrew Sabisky: Johnson adviser quits after backlash over eugenics and race comments February 18, 2020 An adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson quit on Monday saying “media hysteria” about his old online posts meant he had become a distraction. Andrew Sabisky came under scrutiny after details emerged of his views on a range of subjects. He had previously discussed the benefits of forced contraception, said that data showed the US [...]