UK signs post-Brexit investment partnership deal with UAE March 24, 2021 The UK has signed an investment deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will see the gulf nation spend an initial £800m in British life sciences. The UK government will also contribute £200m to life sciences in the deal, bringing the total value of the initial investment to £1bn. The partnership will include similar [...]
Covid vaccinations: ‘Greed’ to thank for UK’s rapid jab rollout, PM says March 24, 2021 The Prime Minister reportedly told backbench MPs that the UK’s Covid vaccination success was due to “capitalism” and “greed”. Boris Johnson “very insistently” retracted the statement shortly after making them during a private Zoom call with Conservative MPs. The BBC reported that the remarks were not related to the ongoing clash with the European Union [...]
House of Lords committee calls for UK-EU financial services agreement March 24, 2021 A House of Lords committee has called for the UK to negotiate better EU access for the financial services industry post-Brexit. The Lords’ EU Services Sub-Committee said today that there will be “real problems” for financial services professionals “whose qualifications are not recognised in the EU under current arrangements”. The City lost its pre-Brexit access [...]
Government opens call for evidence of social factors in UK pension schemes March 24, 2021 The government has launched a call for evidence to understand the extent to which social factors are integrated into pension schemes’ investment activities. The 12-week review will collect views on how pension scheme trustees are considering social factors as part of their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies. The government introduced its first ESG policies [...]
Government launches search for new UKGI chair March 23, 2021 The Treasury has launched a search to replace the outgoing chair of UK Government Investments (UKGI), the Whitehall agency responsible for taxpayer investments. Headhunting firm Odgers Berndtson has kicked off a search to find Robert Swannell’s successor, Sky News reported, with the current UKGI head set to step down after seven years at the helm. [...]
Boris Johnson: ‘No doubt’ that third wave of Covid will reach the UK March 23, 2021 There is “no doubt” that a third wave of coronavirus sweeping across Europe will “wash onto our shores”, the Prime Minister has said, as he reflected on lives lost to Covid on the anniversary of England’s first national lockdown. Speaking at this evening’s Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said the UK “must be realistic” [...]
Spain to lift travel ban on UK arrivals from next week March 23, 2021 Spain is set to lift a ban on arrivals from Britain from 30 March, three months after suspending flights from the UK following concerns over the Kent Covid strain. A ban on all UK arrivals to Spain by air and sea has been in place since 22 December. Government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told a [...]
Rishi Sunak cuts red tape on inheritance tax for Treasury’s ‘tax day’ March 23, 2021 Rishi Sunak will cut red tape involved with UK inheritance tax and tighten tax rules for second property owners as the Treasury today released a series of consultations and reports in what Whitehall is calling “tax day”. The measures will see the government reduce paperwork and other red tape required for people with smaller estates [...]
Going Dutch: Downing Street refuses to rule out sharing Astrazeneca vaccines with EU March 23, 2021 Downing Street has refused to rule out sharing British supplies of the Astrazeneca vaccine made in the Netherlands with the EU to avert an exports ban from the bloc. Asked whether the UK would be willing to offer some of the Dutch-made jabs to Europe, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Boris Johnson has “set [...]
Global online tax on tech giants ‘in our grasp’, says Rishi Sunak March 23, 2021 Rishi Sunak has today said a global online tax on internet giants like Amazon and Facebook is “in our grasp”. Sunak said he was “very keen to see a resolution” on the issue, with the chancellor making it one of his top three priorities in G7 meetings this year that are hosted by the UK. [...]