A poll shows after the Budget, the Conservatives have their strongest lead in eight years March 10, 2017 Philip Hammond's Budget speech may have led to angry headlines, but many voters shrugged off his controversial plans to hike national insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed, a new poll has shown. The poll, conducted by YouGov for The Times, showed 47 per cent of voters supported Hammond's decision to raise £2bn by hiking NICs for those [...]
Tim Martin, chair of JD Wetherspoon, says the Budget didn’t do enough for Britain’s pubs March 10, 2017 JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has hit back at chancellor Philip Hammond's Budget, arguing it doesn't do enough to support pubs from increasing cost pressures. Wetherspoon's share price dipped in morning trading as investors took note of Martin's warning that lower sales and increased costs in the second half of the year will hit the [...]
British citizens should retain EU rights, says European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt March 10, 2017 The European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator has said British citizens should be able to retain EU membership benefits. Guy Verhofstadt, who described the EU referendum result as a “tragedy”, wants a system in which Brits can retain freedom to travel in the continent and vote in European elections. Read more: EU negotiator Guy Verhofstadt says Churchill [...]
George Osborne deserves criticism for a lot of things, but his new salary isn’t one of them March 10, 2017 George Osborne deserved all the ribbing he got over the way he announced the £650,000 a year salary for his new advisory gig at BlackRock. It was not the first time he has used the cover of a bigger story (in this case, the Budget) to sneak out news: he originally unveiled his appointment at [...]
South Korean president Park Geun-hye has been forced from power following corruption allegations March 10, 2017 South Korean president Park Geun-hye has been formally removed from office in a unanimous vote by constitutional judges. Park's ousting, the first for a democratically elected South Korean president, sparked angry scenes outside the courtroom with two of people killed in clashes with police, according to the local Yonhap news agency. Read more: Samsung accused of bribing South Korea’s president The [...]
Prioritise Commonwealth trade post Brexit: It’s what UK businesses want March 10, 2017 The UK’s vote to leave the EU presents British businesses, large and small, with significant export opportunities with the rest of the world – and in particular with Commonwealth countries. In fact, UK businesses are calling for much closer ties and the government must listen. Polling commissioned by The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) and PLMR [...]
Lame duck or eurosceptic: France is in trouble whoever wins the presidency March 10, 2017 I’m back in Paris for a fleeting visit while the markets wonder whether Marine Le Pen – leader of the extreme right Front National – can win the second turn of the French presidential elections in May and destroy the European Union. It’s a 17 hour escapade to interview Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan, former ECB [...]
All firms should fear the coming consumer protection crackdown March 10, 2017 There are normally a few government reviews that businesses seem to be obsessed with. Recently, this was the government’s industrial strategy; now, it is the Taylor Review into employment practices in the modern economy. But one set to increasingly occupy the minds of businesses this year is the review being conducted on consumer protection – [...]
Editor’s notes: Hammond falls down the cracks between politics and policy, the bigger threats to the media than Rupert Murdoch and why the UK needs a new army of trade negotiators March 10, 2017 There are plenty of people willing to defend the chancellor’s controversial raid on the self-employed, not least the chancellor himself who was out and about yesterday claiming that the government faced “some new challenges” and that it has “to pay for these things somehow”. As opposition to the move grows on his own backbenches, he [...]
Brexit secretary David Davis says most sectors won’t need transition periods, because the government is aiming to get the best possible deal March 9, 2017 The Brexit secretary has insisted most sectors of the UK economy will not require transitional arrangements after the UK leaves the EU, as the proposed deal with Brussels should erase the need for them. "Our overarching offer, as it were, of a comprehensive free trade arrangement will actually remove the need for transition in some areas," David [...]