The loss of trust and fear that we’ll lose openness are challenges business must – and can – solve July 8, 2016 The UK’s vote to leave the European Union demands strong leadership in a way few other events in our recent history have required. Since the result of the referendum, much of the language and rhetoric has verged on the sensationalist, provoking a sense of unease at a time when the country needs composure and reassurance. In [...]
Government lays out plan to avoid power supply crunch over winter July 8, 2016 The government has detailed how it will keep the lights over winter as Britain faces an increasingly tight power supply. The government said today that it will seek will seek 53.8 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in a capacity auction for 2017/18. The scheme was bought forward by a year due to a wave of coal-fired plant closures. Read [...]
Labour may be in danger of splitting, says potential leadership contender Owen Smith July 8, 2016 A series of high profile Labour politicians have now raised the prospect of a permanent split in the party, with Owen Smith the latest to add his name to the list. Pontypridd MP Owen Smith said that the party is in danger of "splitting apart", adding that unity is needed. "Over the last week, I have [...]
UK will play bigger role in NATO to compensate for Brexit, defence secretary Michael Fallon has said July 8, 2016 The United Kingdom will play a bigger role in NATO in order to counterbalance its vote to leave the EU, the defence secretary has said. Michael Fallon said that it was disappointing that the UK had voted for Brexit at a dangerous time in global affairs, adding that the UK must now be even more engaging with [...]
Clinton is off the hook over her private email. Are we right to question the role of her political celebrity? July 8, 2016 The results are in, and people are outraged. And I’m not talking about Brexit. Across the pond, a far less transparent phenomenon has occurred. After many months of anticipation, the FBI has finally recommended against charging Hillary Clinton for using a private server to host her correspondence while she was secretary of state. In legal [...]
Ukip’s march Left will create Britain’s first major populist party – and that means big business needs to look beyond the bounds of London July 8, 2016 Nigel Farage might not be every City worker’s favourite person at the moment. But the City might look back on Farage’s time as leader with fondness – because there is a real prospect that Ukip’s leadership election will herald the birth of Britain’s first truly populist party. Ex-commodities broker Farage was at heart a pro-business [...]
Would the City be better off in the long term outside the Single Market? July 8, 2016 Len Shackleton, professor of economics at the University of Buckingham, says Yes. Policies towards banks and the financial sector are largely based on ignorance, envy and spite – whatever country you’re in. But a UK outside the EU has a marginally better chance of forming sensible policy as slightly more of our politicians have at [...]
Whitehall shames itself with lack of Leave plan July 8, 2016 The Treasury is one of the three ‘great offices of state’ – dominating the machinery of government and sitting alongside the Home Office and the Foreign Office in terms of prestige, power and pedigree. Throughout all of Whitehall its patronage is yearned for and its wrath feared. Simply put, it is the nerve centre of [...]
A senior Tory MP has blasted the Treasury’s failure to plan around a Leave vote, as revealed by top civil servant earlier today July 7, 2016 A senior Tory MP and Brexiteer has blasted the Treasury's failure to plan for a Leave vote, as revealed by a top civil servant earlier today. Speaking to the public accounts committee, the Treasury's most senior civil servant admitted that his department made no plans for a Brexit vote. Tom Scholar, the permanent secretary to the [...]
The former boss of Barings Bank has said he cannot recall Andrea Leadsom, despite the energy minister claiming to have played a central role in the aftermath of its collapse July 7, 2016 The former chief executive of Barings Bank has questioned Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom's claims of working at the centre of attempts to halt a financial crisis in the aftermath of the bank's collapse. Leadsom, who will face home secretary Theresa May in a battle to become the next Prime Minister, has regularly referred to her [...]