Editor’s Notes: Time for some forward guidance on the next Bank of England governor, Labour loses a man of principle and Warren Buffett’s lunch date August 31, 2018 Mark Carney’s first speech as governor of the Bank of England was on 28 August 2013, at a lunch co-hosted by the CBI and the Institute of Directors. I was working for the latter at the time, and was leaning against the back wall with a glass of warm white wine in my hand as [...]
EU27 prepare Irish ‘fudge’ to secure 11th hour Brexit deal August 30, 2018 EU member states are preparing to fudge an agreement on the Irish backstop, in the hope of forcing through an 11th hour Brexit deal. City A.M. understands that a growing number of policy makers from the EU27, including Germany’s CDU and Ireland’s Fine Gael, are backing plans to broaden Michel Barnier’s mandate at the October [...]
Labour MP Frank Field resigns, claiming party is ‘force for antisemitism’ August 30, 2018 Veteran MP Frank Field has resigned from Labour, claiming the party has become "a force for antisemitism in British politics". Field, the MP for Birkenhead and chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, issued a statement saying he was resigning the whip from the party he has represented since 1979 to serve as an independent MP [...]
Jeremy Hunt takes aim at Google over ‘child abuse content’ August 30, 2018 UK foreign minister Jeremy Hunt has lashed out at Google over its plans to build a censored version of its search engine in China, while lagging on efforts to remove sensitive content on child abuse. "Seems extraordinary that Google is considering censoring its content to get into China but won’t cooperate with UK, US and [...]
Trump doubles down on bias accusations against US tech giants August 30, 2018 US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks towards tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, accusing them of illegal activity. "I think that Google and Facebook and Twitter … treat conservatives and Republicans very unfairly,” Trump told reporters at the White House last night. "I think it’s a very serious problem [...]
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage mulls bid for London mayor 2020 August 30, 2018 Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage is mulling making a bid to become the next London mayor. The pro-Brexit politician, who has a slot on London radio station LBC five days a week, would go up against incumbent Sadiq Khan and one of the three Conservative candidates currently vying for the nomination. “I have been encouraged to [stand] [...]
Politicians have abandoned economics for paternalism August 30, 2018 Have advocates of lifestyle and environmental regulation given up pretending that the policies they advocate are grounded in good economic analysis? Two stories from last week suggest so. The first was reporting around a new study by the Global Burden of Disease project, which concluded that even moderate drinking increases the risk of alcohol-related health [...]
DEBATE: Does the shock resignation of the French energy minister prove that Macron’s regime has lost its shine? August 30, 2018 Does the shock resignation of the French energy minister prove that Macron’s regime has lost its shine? Adam Bartha, director of Epicenter, says YES. It’s hard to lose something that you haven’t had for a while, but Nicolas Hulot’s resignation in protest of Emmanuel Macron’s agenda shows what we should already have known. The French [...]
The revolving door of Australian Prime Ministers is a lesson for May August 30, 2018 You know the story: Australia has yet another Prime Minister. In fact, it has been 11 years since one has completed a full three-year term, and as of last week, five people have held the office in as many years. It is enough to make British politics look strong and stable. Read more: Lidington tells [...]
Pound rises as Michel Barnier plans to offer UK an unprecedented third country deal August 29, 2018 The pound surged this afternoon after the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier appeared to offer a breakthrough on Brexit, telling reporters the UK would receive an unprecedented deal for a third country. Sterling climbed more than one per cent higher on the news, breaking the $1.30 mark for the first time in three weeks. Meanwhile the yield [...]