Letters: A Mexican charade Letters [Re: UK kicks off negotiations with Mexico for £4bn post-Brexit trade deal, April 20] It’s quite striking that we’re bragging about trade deals with Mexico as some kind of farcical “post-Brexit” boost. We never saw a real trade deal with the US even if we are now negotiating state-by-state. Our trade deal with Australia was [...]
Letters: Small businesses will hurt first Letters [Re: Banks across the UK are ‘pulling the drawbridge’ as lending to small businesses hits all-time low, May 16] The fact that successful applications for finance amongst small firms have plunged to their lowest level since records began – while lending to large corporates has increased significantly since the start of the year – highlights [...]
Letters: The rise and fall of crypto Letters [Re: Bitcoin has no future as a means of payment, warns top crypto boss, yesterday] Following news that the founder of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried claimed that Bitcoin is not scalable enough to accommodate millions of transactions, the asset’s future as a means of payment has drawn considerable doubt. However, this doubt is valid. [...]
Letters: Putting it bluntly on cannabis May 17, 2022 [Re: Sadiq Khan could be leading the way in deserting the foolish war on drugs, yesterday] It is right to say the war on drugs is being lost by the government and police. Every city estate in the country has a problem, visible or invisible. One woman in my estate, in a leafy green area [...]
Letters: A new retention strategy May 16, 2022 [Re: Lack of housing ambition is a recipe for disaster for the capital, May 12] The transition to working from home and the exodus of people leaving London for the countryside, caused by the pandemic, has triggered changes across the commercial and property landscapes. Our capital is having to adapt, as a lack of housing [...]
Letters: Are we trusting the Bank? May 13, 2022 [Re: UK recession to hit sooner than first thought as economy shrinks unexpectedly, yesterday] With the UK seemingly entering a period of stagflation, it’s clear that the Bank of England has taken the right course of action by raising interest rates earlier this week – a necessary move to help tackle the challenge faced by [...]
Letters: Boeing at the crossroad May 12, 2022 [Re: Boeing turbulence continues as Air Lease says future of new jet at risk, May 10] The fact that Air Lease Corp’s Executive Chairman has questioned Boeing’s 777X project seems to have further heaped pressure on an already beleaguered business. While there are enough industry leaders who have renewed their faith in Boeing’s ability to [...]
Letters: Insurance is paying a price May 11, 2022 [Re: Hiscox sets aside £32m to weather impact of war in Ukraine, May 5] What’s happened with insurer Hiscox is just another example of how the insurance industry is now entering the most prolonged hard market in living memory. After the financial and reputational losses sustained during the pandemic, we are now deep into a [...]
Letters: Up and down for the Bitcoin world May 10, 2022 [Re: Bitcoin slips to three-month low as interest rate rises hit financial markets, yesterday] Over the weekend, the value of Bitcoin has reached new lows of £27,630, meaning the market value has now fallen by 50 per cent since its peak in November 2021. Whilst investors shouldn’t be too taken aback by the fall, given [...]
Letters: New Starmer, New Labour May 5, 2022 [Re: Keir Starmer could not have a stronger position – but he’s still squandering it, May 4] Maybe Keir Starmer’s problem isn’t that he’s not using the fruits of Boris Johnson’s failure, but that he is playing the New Labour tune at all. Tony Blair is one of the few Labour Prime Ministers to make [...]