HSBC concedes to investor pressure over climate change March 11, 2021 HSBC has given in to investor pressure by tabling plans to phase out its financing of coal power by 2040, staving off backlash over the bank not being aligned with its climate ‘ambitions’. The bankin giant said today it will retire from funding both coal-fired power and thermal coal mining across the EU by 2030, and [...]
Serco, Deloitte and Amazon bosses coached on how to apply for New Years Honours March 11, 2021 Contractors, consulting giants and big businesses who profited from the coronavirus pandemic are being offered tailored advice on how to apply for New Years Honours. Serco and Amazon are among a number of industry giants being asked to nominate staff members for official honours from the Queen such as MBEs. The revelations emerged after invitations [...]
EU’s ambassador to UK calls for more trust in post-Brexit relationship March 11, 2021 The EU’s ambassador to Britain has today said there needs to be more trust in the UK-EU post-Brexit relationship as rows over vaccines and Northern Ireland rage on. Ambassador João Vale de Almeida told journalists today that “trust is the most important commodity in international relationships” and that “when levels of trust go down you [...]
UK to receive extra 10m vaccine doses as rollout accelerates March 11, 2021 Up to 10m extra vaccine doses are set to be made available to the UK within the following days, as ministers look to accelerate the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme. More than 22.8m people have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine so far, including all top four priority groups. Overall vaccine numbers have [...]
Brexit: UK food manufacturers to face millions of pounds of new red tape costs March 11, 2021 British food exporters are set to be hit with millions of pounds of new costs due to new EU post-Brexit bureaucracy from next month. From 21 April, Brussels will make some UK food manufacturers fill out new health assessment forms when exporting to the EU that will increase paperwork by around one-third. The new red [...]
Kent Covid variant could be twice as deadly as previous strains, report suggests March 10, 2021 The Kent coronavirus variant could be twice as deadly as previous Covid strains, analysis of more than 100,000 infections has suggested. Research published today in the British Medical Journal showed that the Kent mutation, which is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the UK, may be around 64 per cent more lethal compared to [...]
Downing Street says UK-EU vaccine row will not affect Moderna vaccine shipments March 10, 2021 The ongoing UK-EU vaccine row will not disrupt millions of Europe-manufactured Moderna vaccines set to arrive in Britain throughout spring, according to Downing Street. Boris Johnson’s spokesperson today said the government “remains confident” of its vaccine supplies and that “we’ll use the Moderna vaccine from spring”, despite an escalating row over vaccine supplies with Brussels. [...]
Boris Johnson hits back at ‘completely false’ EU vaccine ban allegations March 10, 2021 The Prime Minister has hit back at EU claims that the UK has banned all Covid-19 vaccine exports, telling MPs that Britain “opposes vaccine nationalism in all its forms”. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, yesterday falsely claimed that the UK had an “outright ban” on exports of vaccines produced within Britain. Boris Johnson [...]
Boris Johnson signals willingness for new UK online tax on internet giants March 10, 2021 Boris Johnson has today signalled he could be open to a new online tax on tech giants like Amazon, while highlighting the taxation “discrepancy” between digital and bricks and mortar businesses. Johnson said during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today that chancellor Rishi Sunak has “tried to address” the discrepancy “in an equitable way”. Sunak has [...]
EU nations agree to launch legal action against UK in Northern Ireland Brexit row March 10, 2021 EU countries have backed a proposal to launch legal action against the UK for unilaterally deciding to delay introducing post-Brexit customs checks in Northern Ireland in what will be an escalation of an ongoing row. European Commission vice president, and the EU’s Brexit chief, Maros Sefcovic presented the plans to the 27 EU ambassadors in [...]