DEBATE: Is HSBC’s ‘we are not an island’ advert an effective strategy? January 10, 2019 Is HSBC’s ‘we are not an island’ advert an effective strategy? Brendon Craigie, co-founder and managing partner at Tyto PR, says YES. HSBC has denied that its adverts are explicitly Brexit-related, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the campaign’s underlying message. Given the social media response, this denial is probably intended to highlight that, [...]
The Japanese Prime Minister’s visit is a chance to celebrate our friendship with like-minded nations January 10, 2019 I sometimes find that foreign leaders are more aware of Britain’s national strengths than we are at home. So let me itemise a few of them. The UK has the fifth biggest economy in the world, the third biggest overseas aid budget, the second largest military budget in Nato, and a world-class diplomatic network, including [...]
New visa for architects as trade body calls for ‘drastic reform’ of UK immigration system post-Brexit January 10, 2019 The Home Office launched a visa scheme for exceptional architects today as the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) argues UK immigration legislation needs a drastic overhaul post-Brexit to safeguard the £4.8bn industry. From today architects will be able to apply for Tier 1 (exceptional talent) visas – the first bespoke immigration category available for [...]
Passing May’s Brexit deal would make sterling surge, says JP Morgan January 9, 2019 The sterling would surge by at least four per cent if parliament approves Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit proposals in a planned vote next week, JP Morgan said. The bank’s asset management wing also warned about the potential impact of extending Article 50, something the government has ruled out. Karen Ward, the fund manager’s EMEA [...]
John Bercow blasted by Tory Brexiters as Theresa May suffers another defeat January 9, 2019 Theresa May suffered yet another defeat over Brexit on Wednesday after a furious row erupted between Tory MPs and Commons Speaker John Bercow. Bercow was accused of not being impartial after accepting an amendment which would force the government to publish its Brexit ‘plan B’ within three days of a defeat on its deal, not [...]
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay cleared of falsifying election expenses January 9, 2019 The Conservative MP for South Thanet who denied Nigel Farage election victory in 2015 has been cleared of falsifying election expenses. Craig Mackinlay faced two charges of making a false election expenses declaration under the Representation of the People Act, while election aide Marion Little was charged with three counts of aiding and abetting Mackinlay and his election manager, [...]
Rod Rosenstein, key figure in Trump probe, set to leave US justice department: reports January 9, 2019 US deputy attorney-general Rod Rosenstein, a key figure in the probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 US presidential election, is set to leave the Department of Justice in the coming weeks, according to multiple reports. Rosenstein is likely to leave after the appointment of William Barr, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Jeff Sessions [...]
DUP slams government’s wooing attempts in advance of Brexit deal vote January 9, 2019 A spokesman for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has slammed government proposals intended to get the support of the Northern Irish party for the Brexit deal as “fairly meaningless”. Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington, a key ally of Prime Minister Theresa May, had announced a series of pledges to try and sell the [...]
Poll: Three-quarters of MPs think Theresa May made a bad job of Brexit negotiations January 9, 2019 Nearly three-quarters of MPs feel that Theresa May has done a bad job of handling Brexit negotiations, according to a new poll. The annual poll of MPs – conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of The UK in a Changing Europe think tank and the Mile End Institute at the Queen Mary University of London [...]
Government analysis ‘sheds no more light’ on Brexit, says Treasury committee January 9, 2019 Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan has castigated the government over its Brexit outcome analyses, claiming it has shown the “most optimistic” model without addressing other factors including the short-term impact of leaving the EU. Morgan, who was among the rebel Tories that pushed the government into a historic defeat over no-deal powers yesterday, said [...]