More ‘Boris bikes’ to be rolled out after record numbers take to two wheels June 10, 2020 Transport for London is adding 1,700 more bikes to its Santander Cycle scheme in response to record numbers of users during May. With health fears over coronavirus keeping Londoners off public transport, last month saw over 1.2m of the vehicles – formerly known as “Boris bikes” – hired, the highest number in the scheme’s 10-year [...]
Stephen Fry joins campaign to ‘save Soho’ with temporary pedestrianisation June 10, 2020 Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy and a host of other celebrities have joined a campaign to pedestrianise Soho’s streets this summer to allow pandemic-battered hospitality businesses to bounce back. Property companies Soho Estates and Shaftesbury have proposed the removal of traffic from the famous district’s streets to create the Soho Summer Festival, with bars and restaurants [...]
Bank of England set to reload bond-buying programme with £100bn June 10, 2020 The Bank of England is expected to announce a further £100bn for its bond-buying programme when it meets next week in order to limit the damage to the UK economy by the coronavirus crisis. The central bank has already spent the majority of the record £200bn expansion to its asset purchase programme which it made [...]
HBO pulls Gone With The Wind over ‘racist’ depiction of slave era June 10, 2020 HBO has removed Gone With The Wind from its streaming platform over its “racist” depiction of the American south during slavery. HBO Max, the broadcaster’s streaming service launched last month, announced that it has temporarily dropped the 1939 film. HBO said it would return the film to its platform at an unspecified date with a [...]
British Business Bank appoints new interim chief executive June 10, 2020 The British Business Bank has announced the appointment of Catherine Lewis La Torre as its interim chief executive. Lewis La Torre will take over from current boss Keith Morgan on 1 September, the lender said. She is currently chief executive of the bank’s two commercial subsidiaries, British Patient Capital and British Business Investments, which she [...]
Shakespeare: Gousto set to deliver on consumer hunger post-lockdown June 10, 2020 At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, supermarket shelves were emptied as Britons around the country stockpiled and prepared for a lockdown. As shoppers looked for alternative ways to do their weekly food shop, recipe box provider Gousto saw record levels of orders for its meal kit products and were eventually forced to [...]
Mike Pompeo slams HSBC for ‘corporate kowtow’ to China June 10, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has criticised HSBC for backing China’s moves to limit Hong Kong’s autonomy, accusing the British bank of a “corporate kowtow” to Beijing. Pompeo said the US stood ready to help Britain with alternatives after Beijing reportedly threatened to punish HSBC and break commitments to build nuclear power plants in [...]
Get the Bank of England focused on the real economy June 10, 2020 Economic policy is returning to its usual position of prominence. Fears of a major rise in unemployment are starting to worry the government more than fears around Covid-19. The chancellor’s imaginative schemes concerning furlough and other measures to protect jobs create potential problems elsewhere. So much money is being borrowed that the ratio of public [...]
O2 amps up pressure for UK networks to snub Huawei June 10, 2020 O2 today announced a partnership with Ericsson to upgrade its 5G technology, adding pressure for other telecoms firms to seek alternatives to Huawei as force grows for the UK to cut ties with the Chinese vendor. The UK telecoms firm last October confirmed plans for Ericsson to develop part of its 5G infrastructure. O2 today [...]
DEBATE: Is the government wrong to drop plans for all primary pupils to return to school? June 10, 2020 Is the government wrong to drop plans for all primary pupils to return to school? Joanna Williams, a former school teacher and director of the think tank Cieo, says YES. An email from my daughter’s school: she will not be returning before the end of term and, from September, might attend only a couple of [...]