EU referendum: Mark Carney clashes with Jacob Rees-Mogg over Brexit warning at Treasury Select Committee May 24, 2016 Mark Carney has defended the Bank of England's Brexit analysis as he faced accusations of becoming "politically involved" with the EU referendum in a tense hearing in front of MPs. Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the chancellor of making unprecedented political interventions of the kind that would be impossible before a general election. Carney fired back in [...]
Brexit’s Got 90s Talent: Farage and Brexiteers deploy East 17 and 5ive May 24, 2016 There's a serious generation gap when it comes to how the nation will vote in June's referendum, but it looks like the Leave campaign has a new plan to woo the younger generation who are more in favour of staying in Europe, according to the polls. What better way to target young people than a live concert bringing [...]
These are the MPs Mark Carney will be up against at the Treasury Select Committee May 24, 2016 Nobody enjoys select committee hearings. Mark Carney, however, might be the exception to that rule. For a man who wears a pained expression every time he is probed on something Brexit-related, the governor of the Bank of England has really been stepping up the warnings of late. And it's set to make for a tasty showdown at [...]
JD Wetherspoon’s boss is going on a pub crawl to convince you to vote for Brexit May 24, 2016 JD Wetherspoon chief Tim Martin is going on a pub crawl around all 100 of the company's drinking-holes over the next month to convince punters to vote for Britain to leave the EU. Martin is a staunch Brexit campaigner – he has signed several business-led letters calling for Brexit – and hopes to spread the word [...]
Why Brexit won’t be a disaster (and as former City minister, I should know) May 24, 2016 As someone who spent 25 years working in finance, four years scrutinising the Treasury as a backbencher, and then two years first as City minister, now as Energy Minister, I've seen at first hand the economic cycles, the disasters and triumphs. These experiences tell me that the UK has an outstanding future as a free trading global [...]
EU referendum: Men, Tories and the elderly could all swing the vote towards Remain May 24, 2016 The vote Remain camp holds a 13-point lead over Leave rivals in the campaign for the upcoming European Union referendum, driven by a support from a majority of men, Conservative voters and the elderly. The ORB poll found 55 per cent of those who definitely plan to vote supported remaining in the EU, while 42 per cent [...]
Mumsnet and Netmums divide mums on Brexit in the polls ahead of live Q&A with MPs Yvette Cooper and Gisela Stuart May 24, 2016 Will it be statistics at dawn for Britain's mums? News reaches The Capitalist that Netmums, the straight-laced alternative to mothering social network Mumsnet, has polled its users and discovered that "the majority of women (mums) are planning to vote to leave, whilst 17 per cent are still undecided as to how they will vote". Around [...]
Tata Steel pensions proposals “drive a cart and horses through pensions protection” says former minister May 23, 2016 Efforts to reduce Tata Steel's pensions deficit by scaling back members' rights represent a dangerous precedent according to the former pensions minister. British Steel Pensions Scheme Trustee chairman Allan Johnston suggested last week that business secretary Sajid Javid was exploring options outside of the Pensions Protection Fund in a bid to tackle the firm's £485m [...]
EDF’s UK boss Vincent de Rivaz readies for second grilling by MPs over Hinkley delays May 23, 2016 EDF's UK boss, Vincent de Rivaz, will be hauled before MPs for the second time tomorrow, with the final investment decision for its controversial Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant expected to take centre stage. The French utility giant recently pushed back the decision once again to at least September. De Rivaz had assured it would [...]
FCA must act to cap monthly charges on unauthorised bank overdrafts says Labour MP May 23, 2016 Labour MP and Treasury committee member Rachel Reeves has called on the FCA to go beyond the recommendations of the Competion and Markets Authority and install a cap on banks' unauthorised overdraft charges. The CMA last week proposed that banks should be forced to set their own cap on the amounts that they can charge customers [...]