The UK is the seventh most competitive economy in the world September 27, 2016 The UK has surged to seventh place in a highly-influential ranking of the world’s most competitive economies. The World Economic Forum (WEF) said the UK had overtaken Hong Kong, Japan and Finland to climb three places in this year’s global competitiveness index, more than reversing last year’s embarrassing fall to 10th place. The WEF hailed [...]
Jeremy Corbyn is to demand an end to “trench warfare” within Labour September 27, 2016 Jeremy Corbyn will tomorrow tell Labour members to end “trench warfare” within the party, warning of the risks of an early general election. Addressing the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Corbyn is expected to demand MPs and party members rally around his leadership and focus on fighting the Conservatives. It comes at the end of [...]
Outgoing Institute of Directors chief sounds the alarm over protectionism September 27, 2016 The outgoing director general of the Institute of Directors (IoD) has today issued a warning to Theresa May and her government not to send the UK down a protectionist path. Calling Brexit "the event of the year" during his opening speech at the IoD's annual convention, Simon Walker cautioned that the country must now not go back [...]
Bank of England’s quantitative easing is making the rich richer claims Osborne September 27, 2016 The UK's monetary policy has made "life difficult for savers" and has helped the rich become richer, former chancellor George Osborne has said. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Osborne said: “We need to offset the very necessary loose monetary policy and the distributional consequences that is having. Essentially it makes the rich richer and makes [...]
Liam Fox falls short of calling for hard Brexit September 27, 2016 Liam Fox has been accused of overstepping his mark after failing to deliver any significant detail on what trading relationships the UK will pursue outside the European Union. In a speech to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) today, the international trade secretary did not address the issue of whether the UK would seek to leave [...]
Single Market membership is not a realistic goal for the UK says shadow chancellor John McDonnell September 27, 2016 Hopes of retaining the UK's Single Market membership are not realistic according to shadow chancellor John McDonnell. Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, McDonnell said that while Labour would like to retain membership, it considered negotiated access to be a more likely result in the aftermath of Brexit. "At the moment we are [...]
Sadiq Khan has issued a coded warning to his Labour colleagues, demanding the party seeks power September 27, 2016 London mayor Sadiq Khan has told the Labour party conference that while the leadership contest is over, the party must now seek power. Speaking in Liverpool, Khan listed achievements of Labour administrations, including his own in London, and argued the party's failure to achieve better results was allowing numbers of affordable homes built to to fall, and [...]
Nicola Sturgeon is not a fan of hard Brexit, and wants to retain access to the Single Market for Scotland’s businesses September 27, 2016 First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has today voiced her support for maintaining access to the Single Market, slamming the idea that a so-called hard Brexit is absolutely necessary. Speaking at the Institute of Directors (IoD) Annual Convention, Sturgeon noted that retaining access to the Single Market was "crucial to businesses in Scotland" and added such [...]
Labour donor John Mills has warned the party is lacking a “credible” economic policy September 27, 2016 Labour donor John Mills has warned Jeremy Corbyn’s party faces dramatic electoral losses without a more fleshed out economic policy to lure support. Speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool today, Mills said the party is failing to develop policies to tackle low wage growth following a leadership contest focused on “battles largely irrelevant to [...]
Clinton and Trump’s dismal debate performances laid bare America’s perilous divisions September 27, 2016 “I have a son who’s 10, he’s so good with computers.” – Donald Trump, when asked about US cybersecurity weaknesses (The American Republic is) “under siege by a moron.” – Bruce Springsteen, when asked about Donald Trump Well, it was just as weird as had been anticipated. The estimated 100m Americans who tuned into the [...]