Ireland hard border with UK could be inevitable after “pig in a poke” Brexit says top Irish diplomat January 9, 2017 A hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland could be inevitable if the UK leaves the EU’s Single Market, according to an influential Irish diplomat – while saying Leave voters in the EU referendum were “sold a pig in a poke”. Speaking in an interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Phil Hogan, the EU commissioner [...]
Why unleashing competition would deliver lower fares and greater choice to rail passengers January 9, 2017 The UK’s rail passengers are suffering, and will no doubt continue to do so over the coming months. Union action is bringing the network to a standstill, with further strikes planned for this week. The level of sickness leave among train staff has also been mysteriously increasing, and has doubled compared to pre-strike levels, according [...]
The average price of leasing popular cars surges eight per cent in two months thanks to post-Brexit vote inflation January 9, 2017 While the process of Britain leaving the European Union hasn't yet started, the wheels are already in motion for a rise in the cost of cars to consumers. The monthly cost of leasing a basket of some of the more popular car models has risen by an average of eight per cent, from £245.70 to £264.70, [...]
The chess player and his needy friend: What Vladimir Putin really wants from Donald Trump January 9, 2017 Chess players are a particularly rare bird in the political risk ecosystem. The only major aim of such chess playing – and it is certainly an important one – is the acquisition and retention of political power over the long term. Chess players’ dogged, patient, rational, long-term pursuit of coherent strategic, political and geopolitical ends [...]
Sterling’s post-Brexit vote collapse failed to provoke a foreign takeover rush January 9, 2017 The dramatic reductions in the value of the pound since last summer's Brexit vote has failed to attract overseas bidders to UK businesses, according to new figures. The number of British firms acquired by foreign businesses actually dropped in the second half of 2016, research from accountancy Moore Stephens shows. There was a 30 per [...]
Half of London businesses say cutting migration would hit the capital’s economic growth January 9, 2017 Cutting immigration into the UK would have a negative impact on London's economic growth, according to just over half of the capital's businesses. A survey of just over 500 firms by the London Chamber of Commerce and Innovation in November found 52 per cent warning against barriers for new migrants coming into the city. And [...]
Boris Johnson heads to New York for talks with the Trump team January 8, 2017 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has jetted to the US to meet senior members Donald Trump's incoming administration, but he won't get to meet the president-elect himself. Johnson arrived in the US earlier today, and will meet with two of Trump's advisers in the president-elect's head of strategy Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is a [...]
Tory MP demands a probe of the Treasury’s Brexit sums January 8, 2017 A member of parliament’s public spending watchdog is demanding the National Audit Office question doom-laden Brexit predictions. The Treasury issued a series of warnings ahead of the referendum, and now Tory Brexiteer Charlie Elphicke is calling for a probe. Elphicke, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee, said the bleak scenarios had not come to pass, [...]
Tony Gallagher is reportedly mulling the £500m sale of a chunk of his property empire January 8, 2017 A major Tory donor is reportedly mulling the £500m sale of a chunk of his property empire. According to the Sunday Times, Oxfordshire-based Tony Gallagher is in advanced talks to sell Gallagher Estates to one of the UK’s largest housing associations. Gallagher Estates buys residential sites, preparing them for development by securing planning permission before they [...]
Theresa May is hinting at the end of the UK’s Single Market membership January 8, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May has suggested the UK will give up its Single Market membership in Brexit negotiations, with the European customs union participation also expendable. May appeared to take a swipe at Remain campaigners who want the UK to keep hold of "bits" of EU membership. "We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not [...]