MPs will this week grill Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin as part of an industrial strategy probe October 24, 2016 Businesses including Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin will be invited to give evidence to MPs in Coventry later this week as part of a probe into the government's industrial strategy. MPs on parliament's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee will take evidence at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in the East Midlands city on Thursday. Witnesses [...]
Brexit doesn’t mean the end of the City October 24, 2016 Thirty years ago this week, the City of London underwent a transformation that would set it on a path to global dominance in financial services. The Big Bang, as it became known, was enabled by new technology, regulatory reform, political will and entrepreneurial endeavour. Over the ensuing three decades, the City came to represent the [...]
Hard versus soft Brexit is a fallacy: There are over 40 ways to leave the EU October 24, 2016 Writing about how Brexit will unfold is like trying to provide a running commentary on submarine warfare – speculative, largely pointless, and predictably over-focused on the strategic picture. An expression Brexit secretary David Davis will have to keep deploying in the coming weeks will be his new favourite, “froth”, as writers attempt to fill column [...]
What should chancellor Philip Hammond prioritise in his Autumn Statement? October 24, 2016 Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says infrastructure. Whether small or large, infrastructure schemes boost local business confidence, regenerate areas, create business opportunities for a vast array of UK firms, and “crowd in” related private sector investment. Given decades of underinvestment, chronic delays, deficient digital networks and lagging productivity, an infrastructure-focused stimulus [...]
Theresa May promises Brexit meetings with national leaders as she faces a “constitutional crisis” warning October 24, 2016 Theresa May will today reveal a new forum for the UK government to meet with devolved administrations over Brexit, even as a new report warns she is facing a constitutional crisis. Leaders of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments will be invited to join a new committee led by Brexit secretary David Davis. May will unveil [...]
It’s time to flesh out May’s industrial strategy, British manufacturers warn October 24, 2016 Britain's manufacturers are calling on the government to dramatically hasten plans to introduce a new industrial strategy. Prime Minister Theresa May has stressed the importance of supporting industry since coming to power this summer, introducing a muscular new government department to shepherd work. But manufacturer trade body EEF has today warned that May and her [...]
Chris Grayling is set to signal an appetite for new runways at UK regional airports this week October 23, 2016 Transport secretary Chris Grayling is this week expected to signal fresh appetite for expansion at the UK's regional airports as well as in the south east. A special cabinet committee headed by Prime Minister Theresa May meets tomorrow to decide whether Gatwick or Heathrow should be expanded to give the south east more airport capacity. [...]
Tata’s Port Talbot steelworkers have been boosted by the emergence of new cost figures October 23, 2016 Endangered steelworks in Port Talbot have been handed a boost by the emergence of new figures backing work at the plant. Tata is locked in talks over the future of the site, with hopes high for progress on a potential joint-venture with ThyssenKrupp. The negotiations had raised fears of work being transferred from the UK [...]
Businesses unsure of Theresa May’s threat to cut corporation tax to 10 per cent October 23, 2016 Businesses have given a lukewarm reception to the idea that Theresa May could slash corporation tax if she does not secure a good exit deal with the EU. Both the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) said cutting corporation tax would not be top of their wish-list if the government is [...]
PSOE agree to end Spanish political deadlock after 10-month impasse October 23, 2016 Spain is on course to emerge from 10 months of political deadlock after the opposition socialist party agreed it would not block the centre-right Popular Party from forming a minority government. Mariano Rajoy has governed as head of a weak and interim government since the end of last year when the PP lost their majority in parliament. After elections [...]