John McCain was a champion against pork barrel spending August 28, 2018 Millions of words have been written about US senator John McCain since his death last weekend. He has rightly been lauded as a statesman, a hero, a maverick (his own term) – but one accolade that has been missing is his role as a champion for taxpayers. Given his military background and heroism during the [...]
Voters believe Jeremy Corbyn would divide post-Brexit Britain, according to a new poll August 28, 2018 The 2017 General Election seems like a long time ago, such is the degree of political jockeying to have taken place in the intervening period – yet not even 15 months have passed since Jeremy Corbyn shocked analysts by eliminating Prime Minister Theresa May's parliamentary majority. Labour's strong showing in that election was pinned on [...]
The US sanctions against Iran could start a war in the European commercial courts August 28, 2018 The reimpositions of US sanctions against Iran may be designed to be aggressive while remaining a fair distance short of actual war, but violent battles may be about to commence in the European courts. The cause is a big difference in tone and intent between Washington and Brussels. “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be [...]
The impact of a no-deal Brexit should set off alarm bells for the City’s finance firms August 28, 2018 Last week, the government produced papers assessing the impact of a no-deal Brexit scenario on various sectors, including financial services. It is concerning for the sector that a no-deal scenario is looking increasingly likely. The Bank of England governor Mark Carney ranks this possibility as “uncomfortably high”, while foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested that there [...]
Trump takes aim at Google for biased ‘leftwing media’ search results August 28, 2018 US President Donald Trump has lashed out at search giant Google in a series of tweets, accusing the site of “rigging” a feed of biased, negative news articles when searching the phrase “Trump news”. The president said most of the stories that appear when searching the site are “bad” news articles, written by the “National Left-Wing Media”. He [...]
Frustrated French energy minister quits during live radio interview August 28, 2018 Nicolas Hulot, France’s energy and environment minister, resigned suddenly this morning, saying in a radio broadcast that President Emmanuel Macron’s administration had frustrated his environmentalist efforts. The green activist and TV presenter, a vocal critic of nuclear power, said “I don’t want to lie anymore,” during a live interview public radio channel France Inter, adding [...]
Sterling falls to one-year low against euro as Theresa May plays down threat of no-deal Brexit August 28, 2018 The pound fell to its lowest level against the euro in almost a year today after Prime Minister Theresa May refused to rule out a no-deal Brexit. Sterling fell to as low as €1.1021 against the euro, its lowest level since 11 September 2017, in early trade before recovering marginally. Theresa May told reporters on [...]
Theresa May says no-deal Brexit isn’t ‘the end of the world’ August 28, 2018 Prime Minister Theresa May has suggested that a no-deal Brexit “wouldn’t be the end of the world”, despite the Treasury warning that such a scenario could reduce GDP by 10 per cent. She further claimed that chancellor Philip Hammond’s department’s prediction was “a work in progress” and re-iterated her claim that no-deal is a better [...]
City blues: Meet the Tories hoping to take on Sadiq Khan in the 2020 race for City Hall August 27, 2018 The spectre of the 2016 mayoral campaign still hangs over the capital’s Tories. The crass, dog-whistle tactics deployed by Zac Goldsmith’s team failed to prevent Sadiq Khan receiving more votes than any of his predecessors, and left a bad taste in Londoners’ mouths that remains even now. The memory clearly weighs heavy on the three [...]
Theresa May needs to clarify the government’s ‘no deal’ message August 27, 2018 With each passing day the Prime Minister's previous insistence that “no deal is better than a bad deal” slips further down the political memory hole. It used to be trotted out as often as “Brexit means Brexit” – but as exit day draws closer, and the tension ramps up, we don't hear Theresa May offering [...]