Cuba woos US banks as sanctions ease April 15, 2015 Cuba is luring US banks to provide its citizens with financial services on American soil, as President Barack Obama continues to thaw out historically icy relations between the two nations. Since M&T Bank Corp ended its services to Cuba in 2014, the nation has been unable to get an American bank to facilitate financial transactions [...]
TV leaders’ debate: Nicola Sturgeon biggest winner on Facebook from last debate but Cameron still dominates the conversation April 15, 2015 Nicola Sturgeon was the big winner on social media, more than doubling her Facebook interactions following the leaders' TV debate. According to new data released by Facebook, in the six days following the debate which Sturgeon was widely perceived to have won, the number of posts, comments and likes concerning the Scottish first minister rocketed, [...]
Leaders’ interviews: David Cameron faces down accusation that Tories are party of the rich April 15, 2015 David Cameron has taken on the charge that his party is one that stands for the rich. In the second round of leaders' interviews, conducted by Newsnight's Evan Davis, the Prime Minister said the charge of standing up for the wealthy made him "more angry than almost anything else". When asked whether he agreed with some [...]
General Election 2015: Is the Labour Party divided as Chuka Umunna splits with Ed Miliband on 50p tax rate? April 15, 2015 Labour's shadow business secretary has left the door open to a future Labour government dropping the 50p top rate of income tax once the deficit is significantly reduced. The 50p rate was introduced during the dying days of Gordon Brown's government and was later cut by the coalition to 45p. The 50p rate was popular [...]
General Election 2015: Nicola Sturgeon hits out at Ukip manifesto pledge to scrap Barnett Formula April 15, 2015 SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has hit back at Nigel Farage wanting to replace the Barnett Formula. The Barnett Formula is the mechanism devised in the late 1970s that decides how much cash will be doled out to each nation of the UK on the basis of population and which powers have been devolved. Ukip's manifesto [...]
General Election 2015: EU membership referendum would be too close to call – poll April 15, 2015 Any referendum on a possible Brexit from the European Union (EU) would be far too close to call, according to a new opinion poll. The survey, by Populus for the Financial Times, showed that 39 per cent of those polled would vote to leave the EU, with 40 per cent preferring to stay. The anti-Europe [...]
General Election 2015: How are Ukip and Nigel Farage doing in the “people’s army’s” target seats? April 15, 2015 Last year Ukip’s plans to storm to 12 seats at this year’s General Election were revealed, but as the election draws near, how is the party faring across those constituencies? Ukip won its first MP in October when Douglas Carswell won a landslide victory in Clacton. This was followed up by a less decisive, but [...]
Lib Dem manifesto: Nick Clegg pledges £2.5bn to boost British schools April 14, 2015 The Liberal Democrats will focus their General Election pitch on education, promising an additional £2.5bn of funding during the next parliament. Launching their manifesto today, the party says it will protect per pupil funding for pupils aged two to 19 in real terms over the next parliament. Echoing Tony Blair’s famous “education, education, education” mantra, [...]
General Election 2015: Better Capital founder Jon Moulton wants simplified legislation and free trade with Europe April 14, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 22 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. JON MOULTON: FOUNDER OF BETTER CAPITAL This is to the party of my upbringing and closest to my beliefs [...]
Natalie Bennett struggles to explain how the Green Party will pay for “post-Thatcherite” Britain April 14, 2015 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has struggled to explain how the massive tax rises proposed in her party's manifesto would generate enough revenue to fund the Greens' extravagant spending plans. The Greens want the top tax rate raised to 60p, introduce a wealth tax of 1-2 per cent on people worth £3m, introduce a financial [...]