National Audit Office finds serious failings in procurement process of contract between UK Trade and Investment and PA Consulting June 10, 2016 The National Audit Office (NAO) has today slated both the government department and the consulting agency involved in a contract which saw the government being questionably charged for services. Among the report's criticisms are that UK Trade and Investment's (UKTI) governance of the procurement process for its contract with PA Consulting was weak, that the government department [...]
Tories clash in Brexit debate, as energy secretary attacks “fantasy” politics of Boris Johnson and Leave campaigners June 9, 2016 Tory infighting reached fevered new peaks during last night's televised referendum debate, with energy secretary Amber Rudd repeatedly claiming that former London mayor Boris Johnson was misleading the public. “Boris is the life and soul of the party, but he's not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening," Rudd said. [...]
Be still, for Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has spoken (about the EU) June 9, 2016 David Cameron and Boris Johnson have gone head-to-head on the subject, and Mick Hucknall has also held forth. But they must silence themselves, for someone genuinely important has spoken out about the EU referendum. Yes, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has got involved. In a statement posted on his website, dairy farmer Eavis – who is almost as famous for his lustrous underbeard as [...]
Eastern European leaders want the UK to stay in the EU June 9, 2016 Eastern European leaders have called on the UK to vote to stay in the European Union later this month, saying that the UK is a strong force for dealing with Europe’s upcoming challenges. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the so-called Visegrad Group (V4), issued a joint statement yesterday outlining [...]
Brexit could cut £400bn from UK equities say investment analysts June 9, 2016 A Brexit vote would dramatically increase risk premiums on UK equities, one macro-research house has argued, wiping more than £400bn off the market. Absolute Strategy Research has argued that the risk premiums attached to UK equities could rise to from 5 per cent to 6 per cent after a vote to leave, implying a 20 per [...]
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has lent his support to the EU referendum’s Remain campaign June 9, 2016 Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan and world-wide web inventor Tim Berners Lee have come out in favour of a Remain vote in this month's EU referendum. The pair have made their interventions in a special edition of The New Statesmen, guest-edited by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Annan, who led the UN from [...]
Bilderberg meets today: Here’s the full guestlist June 9, 2016 It may not be quite the shady organisation of conspiracy theorists' fevered imaginations – but the traditionally secretive Bilderberg conference nevertheless courts a certain amount of intrigue. This year, presumably in an effort to increase transparency, the conference's organisers have published a list of everyone attending (lizard people notwithstanding). The list, according to Bilderberg, is about [...]
Poorest households could lose more than £5,000 in benefits after Brexit June 9, 2016 A vote to leave the European Union could result in some of the poorest households in the UK losing up to £5,542 a year in tax credits and welfare payments in a worst-case scenario. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has calculated the likely impact of a vote to leave the EU on [...]
EU referendum: Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major make appeal to Northern Ireland for Remain June 9, 2016 Labour and Conservative grandees Tony Blair and John Major forget their exchanges across the dispatch box and instead came together in an appeal for a Remain vote based on the peace process in Northern Ireland. The two former Prime Ministers, both of whom were heavily involved in the Northern Ireland peace process, will today warned that [...]
Here’s who’s winning the EU referendum on Twitter June 9, 2016 We're heading for the home straight on the road to the EU referendum vote. The polls are swaying back and forth (as is sterling), but which side's winning when it comes to the social media vote? It's Vote Leave which is fuelling the biggest discussion, with almost twice as many mentions of Leave and other [...]