English devolution is go: Cornwall is first county to receive powers over employment, transport, business support, energy, health and social care July 17, 2015 Put down your pasty. Cornwall has become the first UK county to gain historic new powers under the government's push to give more power to local authorities. The county will now have more control over a host of key areas including employment and skills, transport, business support, energy, health and social care, public estate and [...]
North Koreans are about to go to the polls in local elections – but they can only vote “Yes” July 17, 2015 It's not necessarily the kind of thing you'd expect from the country run by a man prone to shooting those who fall asleep when he's in the same room – but this weekend the residents of North Korea will go to the polls to elect their local people's assemblies. Of course, as The Economist reported [...]
Ex-MPC member Danny Blanchflower says rate rise would harm the UK July 17, 2015 Former Bank of England policymaker Danny Blanchflower has warned that an interest rate rise in the near future would harm the UK. Read more: Carney fuels speculation of 2015 interest rate hike "It may well be that the Fed [US Federal Reserve] is going to put off raising so it seems rather strange that Carney is [...]
MacRobert Award 2015: British company Artemis Intelligent Power wins prestigious engineering award for digital hydraulics system July 17, 2015 A British company that has developed a way of cutting fuel consumption and transforming offshore wind has won the MacRobert Award, the UK’s most prestigious engineering award. Scottish firm Artemis Intelligent Power was presented with The Royal Academy of Engineering’s award late last night, for its novel digital hydraulic power system Three British companies were [...]
IMF’s Christine Lagarde says Greek plan not viable without debt reduction July 17, 2015 IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said that the deal between Greece and its creditors will be "categorically" impossible without some form of debt relief. "The answer is quite categorically not," she said in response to questions on the viability of the €86bn (£59.8bn) three-year aid package on France's Europe1 radio station. Lagarde added any debt [...]
BBC shows the strain over Tory reform plan: “Aunty has very much pulled up her sleeves” July 16, 2015 The BBC ramped up its fight with the government yesterday as a groundbreaking Conservative review threatened the broadcaster’s size, funding, content and regulation. Culture secretary John Whittingdale revealed a green paper on the future of the corporation, questioning whether it should aim to be “all things to all people”, attacking its “regressive” licence fee scheme [...]
Mark Carney fuels speculation of 2015 interest rate hike July 16, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney last night dropped another strong hint that markets could be underestimating the likelihood of a 2015 interest rate hike. “In the current circumstances there is no need to wait to raise rates because of a risk management approach and run the risk of inflation overshooting target,” he said in [...]
US corporate results round up July 16, 2015 Google Google beat earnings expectations in its latest financial results with earnings of $6.99 (£4.48) a share, but overall revenue of $17.73bn came in below analysts’ forecasts. Excluding the cost to acquire traffic, Google’s revenue in the second quarter rose 13 per cent to $14.35bn due to the strength of its core search business triggering [...]
Osborne wins guarantee on UK’s Greek loan July 16, 2015 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has managed to secure a guarantee on £700m of British funds that will be loaned to Greece while it continues to negotiate its bailout. Earlier this week, Eurozone officials decided that tapping into a €7bn (£4.9bn) pan-EU fund called the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) would be the most viable option to [...]
Jeremy Browne is recruited to boost the City’s voice in Brussels July 16, 2015 Former minister of state for foreign affairs Jeremy Browne is set for a new post in Brussels, promoting the interests of the City in EU policy making. The City of London Corporation – the City’s governing body – will be placing Browne in its Brussels office as a special representative for the City, it announced today. [...]