The parenthood penalty facing working mums and dads needs to be fixed December 10, 2019 Earlier this year, journalist Emma Duncan asked why we work so hard to avoid our children. Will future generations look back and wonder why parents fought tooth and nail for time in the office? If today’s battles result in a childcare sector that offers real choice at a lower cost, and a society where having [...]
Election 2019: From Cities and Kensington to East Devon and Esher – these are the seats where (almost) anything could happen December 10, 2019 It might have felt inevitable since Boris Johnson took the reins this summer, but the 2019 election is still hard to call. A consensus is building up around a slim majority for the Conservatives of around 20-30 seats – enough for Johnson to return to Number 10 and push his vision of Brexit through. But [...]
Business groups call on next government to boost lacklustre growth December 10, 2019 Business groups have called on the next government to tackle the slowing UK economy after data today showed British GDP stagnated in October. The economy’s performance was below expectations of a 0.1 per cent expansion, but marked an improvement from the 0.1 per cent drop witnessed a month earlier, figures from the Office for National [...]
US Congress and White House agree ‘best deal ever’ to replace Nafta December 10, 2019 US President Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi have agreed on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Canada and Mexico. The Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives gave her support for the USMCA this afternoon. Read more: US and Canada quash fears with last-minute deal to revamp Nafta In exchange [...]
Pre-Election market update December 10, 2019 | City Talk The famous (or infamous) cliché ‘Buy the rumour, sell the fact’ is commonly used in the financial markets. But it contains a significant element of truth. It has been seen in the performance of the pound versus the dollar and euro since Boris Johnson ascended to the premiership. Having suffered heavily for most of 2019, [...]
Eight reasons the Tories are a safer bet than Labour this election December 10, 2019 This election will define our country. Either Britain will continue to be a liberal open democracy continuing what frankly has been a very successful recovery from a global crisis – or the UK will slip towards a highly centralised command and control model that has failed the world over. My last article outlined just what [...]
Are there any safe bets for investors this election? December 10, 2019 | City Talk Political parties have not been able to agree on much this election. Whether it is Brexit or how the economy is run, the Conservatives and Labour have opposite views on almost everything. The Conservatives want to ‘get Brexit done’ so the UK is out of the EU by January, have a new trade deal signed [...]
DEBATE: Will the FCA’s new rules make peer-to-peer investing safer? December 10, 2019 Will the FCA’s new rules that came into force this week make the peer-to-peer investment sector safer? YES, says Rhydian Lewis, chief executive of RateSetter. The FCA has raised the bar in key areas such as risk management, governance, and disclosure. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is not a savings product, but it should be a low-risk investment, [...]
Chilango launches CVA that could wipe out burrito bond investors December 10, 2019 Around 1,500 bondholders are set to be left with a sour taste in their mouths after Chilango launched a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that could see their investments rendered virtually worthless. The stricken Mexican chain raised over £5.8m across two mini-bond offerings – dubbed burrito bonds – in 2014 and 2019, with bondholders promised eight [...]
Election promises little relief for troubled UK markets December 10, 2019 | City Talk The election represents another ‘key risk’ moment for UK assets. Depending on the result, some parts of the UK stock market could suffer heavily, while others might be beneficiaries of a surprise result. This is the dangerous part – trying to work out what comes next. Memories of the predictions made before Brexit and Trump [...]