Brexit impasse sends UK business confidence plummeting, new surveys show April 15, 2019 The political crisis surrounding Brexit has sapped confidence from some of the UK's biggest and smallest companies alike, as crunch talks between Labour and the Conservatives reach a “delicate stage” this week. Read more: MPs could be forced to choose a Brexit option if talks with Labour fail More than eight in 10 finance chiefs [...]
UK dividends jump to first quarter record due to huge one-off payouts April 15, 2019 UK dividends hit record highs in the first three months of the year thanks to huge one-off special payouts from some companies, new analysis has shown. Read more: Ranked: The best-performing assets of 2019 so far Yet underlying growth was weaker than expected from larger and smaller companies alike as a slowing global economy acted [...]
Happy holidays, Westminster – Now sort out this utter mess April 14, 2019 City workers may have had little sympathy for MPs complaining of their long hours and stressful jobs in recent weeks. As for the wider public, the fact that politicians have had to postpone their ski trips because of Brexit’s legislative unpredictability is unlikely to generate cries of “poor dears” in the Dog and Duck. Still, [...]
Biggin Hill boss says Britain must become more competitive as Brexit causes private jet slump April 14, 2019 London's business aviation market is down 5.5 per cent on last year as uncertainty around Brexit continues to bite, a boss at one of London's busiest private jet airports has said. Robert Walters, business development director at London Biggin Hill Airport, said "the number one message" he was receiving from customers was that they needed [...]
MPs could be forced to choose a Brexit option if talks with Labour fail, says May’s deputy April 14, 2019 Parliament could be forced to decide which Brexit option to go for if talks with the Labour party fall through, Theresa May's deputy has said. David Lidington, who is leading the talks with Labour on subjects such as environmental standards, workers rights and the security relationship with the EU, said the discussions were going to [...]
Cross-party Brexit talks ‘positive’, says shadow chancellor April 13, 2019 The government has held further talks with Labour as they continue to try and find a way to break the Brexit deadlock in Parliament. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said these discussions had been "positive", but said it would take until the end of next week to see how far they had got. Read more: MPs [...]
Boris Johnson breached press rules over inaccurate no-deal Brexit support claim, Ipso finds April 12, 2019 Boris Johnson breached standards guidelines when he claimed that a no-deal Brexit was “by some margin preferred by the British public” to other options, the press regulator today ruled. Read more: CBI expresses 'deep concern' at prospect of Prime Minister Boris Johnson The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) condemned Johnson’s statement in his weekly column [...]
Brexit party: Nigel Farage launches new pro-Leave party with Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister as MEP candidate April 12, 2019 Nigel Farage today launched his Brexit party as the UK prepare for the prospect of taking part in European elections three years after voting to leave the EU. Read more: CBI boss backs 2nd Brexit referendum if MPs can't 'get their act together' Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, was confirmed as the new party’s first [...]
Liz Truss is right to hit the brakes – HS2 would put us all on the train to nowhere April 12, 2019 The bogeyman of politics may be ousted for good, if the chief secretary to the Treasury has anything to say about it. I’m not referring to our Halloween Brexit, but rather High-Speed 2 – a follow-on from the first high-speed rail project, mapping a fast route from London to Birmingham, with branches to Manchester and Leeds [...]
Could Jacob Rees-Mogg soon be off to 11 Downing Street? April 12, 2019 The Conservative party has a shortage of the political equivalent of rock stars. These are the politicians that the public would not merely recognise (already a rather an elite cohort), but actually might cross the road to ask for an autograph – or, more usually these days, a selfie. Boris Johnson has this star quality, of course. [...]