China crafts £116bn chips support package as it tackles US curbs with WTO December 13, 2022 China is reportedly crafting a $143bn (£116.5bn) package to support its semiconductor industry, as it tackles new US trading curbs with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The package would be a major pillar in sustaining its chips sector, which is currently fielding attempts from the US to slow its technological advances. Beijing plans to roll [...]
Twitter gaffe: Musk’s site labels Norway, its PM and foreign minister as ‘Nigerian’ December 13, 2022 Twitter was mocked by Norway this morning after its new verification system told users the country was actually Nigeria. Continuing its streak of mishaps, the social media site labelled Norway’s foreign ministry as a “Nigeria government organization”, while Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Store and Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt were also mischaracterised. This comes after Elon [...]
Royal Navy contracts bump up revenues for outsourcing giant Capita December 13, 2022 Outsourcing firm Capita said its contracts with the Royal Navy had bumped up revenues in the past 11 months and it had slashed its debt levels by offloading areas of the business, as it updated the market on the year’s trading.
Rail strikes: More competition could see unrest become a thing of the past December 12, 2022 Government cannot continue to abdicate responsibility - it is time to bang some heads together to end the rail strikes
Kwarteng was warned by Treasury boffins about market reaction to mini-Budget December 12, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng was warned by senior civil servants about a potential adverse market reaction to measures announced in the catastrophic mini-Budget, it has been revealed. Beth Russell, second permanent secretary at the Treasury, today said she told the former chancellor that financing £50bn of tax cuts through borrowing could spook the markets. Financial markets reacted [...]
Cleverly says ‘comfort blanket allies’ not enough as he vows wider UK engagement December 12, 2022 Britain cannot rely on its traditional “comfort blanket allies” and must expand its engagement with developing countries, foreign secretary James Cleverly has said. Cleverly said the UK’s relationships with western countries were “rock solid”, but not enough to “sustain the international order”. The speech, Cleverly’s first major intervention as foreign secretary, signalled a move away [...]
Number 10 full of praise for ‘compassionate’ Gareth Southgate December 12, 2022 Number 10 has heaped praise on Gareth Southgate, while stopping short of saying whether he should continue as England manager. Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said today that “the whole country can be proud” of Southgate and his players, after England exited the World Cup in the quarter finals on Saturday. Speculation is rife over Southgate’s [...]
Christmas strikes: Government to hold crisis meetings as army called in December 11, 2022 The government will hold a series of crisis meetings this week to try and minimise disruption during widespread Christmas strikes, with the government now calling in the military. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden will convene two Cobra meetings with ministers from several departments as the UK faces crippling strikes in hospitals, airports and railways. The [...]
City minister says ‘world’s moved on’ from post-2008 financial services reforms December 11, 2022 City minister Andrew Griffith has said “the world’s moved on” since the 2008 global financial crisis in an attempt to calm concerns about the easing of the UK’s bank ring-fencing regime. Griffith told City A.M. that the regulation, which will be relaxed as a part of newly announced post-Brexit reforms, was acting as “an impediment” on some [...]
Sunak delays Northern Ireland Protocol Bill in bid to strike deal with EU December 11, 2022 Rishi Sunak is set to delay plans to unilaterally rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill as he tries to broker a deal with Brussels to fix the post-Brexit treaty. The Prime Minister has decided not to bring the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill back to the House of Lords this year, after UK-EU relations [...]