Scottish election: Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson says the Tories are the best opposition to SNP as Labour are in decline April 8, 2016 The Conservatives will act as the most effective opposition against the dominance of the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Tories leader has said. Ruth Davidson has said that it is her party that will be able to hold the Scottish government to account, as Labour has been ineffective. Read more: Farage unveils plans to woo Scots [...]
UK’s stubborn trade deficit shrinks slightly, poor exports despite a weaker pound suggest it isn’t going away soon April 8, 2016 Britain's trade deficit narrowed by a miniscule amount in February 2016, nowhere near enough to allay concerns about a failure to rebalance the economy and increase sales of British products around the world. The deficit – the difference between imports and exports – came in at £4.8bn in February, shrinking slightly from an eye-watering £5.2bn in January. Exports [...]
Why the UK’s record current account raises Brexit tail risk April 8, 2016 The UK is a serial debtor. In every quarter since 1998, its current account balance has been negative. In the last few years this deficit has grown rapidly. Currently, it is the largest in the G7. While modest deficits can be sustained even in the long-run providing gross domestic product growth is strong and stable, very [...]
Could you be unwittingly involved in the Panama tax-avoidance scandal? April 8, 2016 What do you, David Cameron and Vladimir Putin have in common? Panama. Don’t wait for another punchline, it’s not a joke. Although the world’s great and not-so-good have been caught up in the sensational "Panama Papers" revelations, the latest twists and turns have revealed an even more intriguing side to the life of offshore finance – [...]
The European Commission just refunded Societe Generale’s €218.6m of its Euribor rigging fine April 8, 2016 We're used to banks paying out multi-million pound fines for their various misdeeds when it comes to Libor/Euribor/FX rigging – but now one French bank has had a reprieve. Societe Generale said this morning that the European Commission had decided to refund €218.17m (£175.81m) of its €445.88m Euribor-rigging fine. Former employees of the bank, as [...]
Scottish election: Ukip’s Nigel Farage unveils plans to woo Scots, including a lower drink driver limit and rolling back the smoking ban April 8, 2016 Trying to reposition his party for a post-EU referendum world, Nigel Farage has unveiled the UK Independence Party's Scottish manifesto, pledging to increase the drink driver limit and get rid of the smoking ban. He's offering guaranteed jobs for those who served in the armed forces in the police or prison service, as well as pledging to ditch [...]
Universities: EU students contribute millions of pounds a year to London’s economy April 8, 2016 Thought there was anyone left who hadn't waded into the Brexit debate? Think again: this morning universities joined the fray, pointing out that students from EU countries contribute millions of pounds a year to London's economy. Universities UK, essentially a trade body for UK colleges, said EU students at London's universities generated £788m for the [...]
US secretary of state John Kerry has travelled 1.06m miles as America’s top diplomat April 8, 2016 John Kerry has become the most travelled US secretary of state in history after breaking the record when he arrived in Bahrain. He's overtaken Condeleezza Rice, who served under President George W. Bush, by around 1,000 miles. The Democrat has another 10 months left in office, and has a hectic schedule before the next president enters [...]
Oh, he does like to be beside the seaside: Luke Johnson has just bought Brighton Pier for £18m April 8, 2016 He may be best known as the former owner of Pizza Express, but it seems Luke Johnson is more of a scream-if-you-want-to-go-faster man now: he's just splashed out (see what we did there?) on the company behind Brighton Pier. This morning Johnson's company, Aim-listed Eclectic Bar Group, said it had entered into an agreement with the [...]
Sweet tooth for peckish Primark-owner Associated British Foods as it snaps up Africa’s largest producer of sugar April 8, 2016 Primark-owner Associated British Foods (ABF) has finally filled a long-standing hole this morning, completing a £262m purchase of Illovo Sugar Limited, Africa's largest producer of the sweet stuff. The extra calories failed to put much energy behind ABF shares in London, however, with the firm up just 0.41 per cent to 3,401p in the first minutes [...]