Here are all the predictions I got wrong in 2018 December 21, 2018 I should have given up making predictions in June 2017. Three months earlier, I had spoken at a conference on Brexit and suggested that the best way forward for Theresa May would be to call a snap election and strengthen her negotiating hand. I don’t know how the Prime Minister got word of my advice, [...]
DEBATE: As the year draws to a close, do we still have reasons to be cheerful? December 21, 2018 As the year draws to a close, do we still have reasons to be cheerful? Viscount Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist, says YES. Yes, we do. A lot went wrong in 2018 for a lot of people; but a lot more went right. Levels of absolute poverty, rates of infant mortality, age-adjusted death rates [...]
Labour MP Ivan Lewis resigns from party over antisemitism concerns December 20, 2018 An MP has resigned from the Labour Party citing the party's failure to tackle antisemitism within its ranks. Ivan Lewis, who was suspended from the party a year ago over sexual harassment allegations, accused Corbyn of being unwilling to allow Jewish people the right of “self-determination in their own state.” The MP for Bury South [...]
Boxing Day footfall set to tumble as Christmas spending levels off December 20, 2018 Footfall is set to plummet on Boxing Day as Christmas trading takes a hit from low consumer confidence and the rise of Black Friday sales. Boxing Day footfall will decline 5.2 per cent year, its largest drop in recent years, according to forecasts from retail data firm Springboard. Footfall on Boxing Day has declined in [...]
The UK’s ‘Brexit-proof’ tech startups land Christmas number one for European funding December 20, 2018 British tech firms brought in more funding from venture capital firms than any other country in Europe in 2018, as well as achieving the highest amount of exits. Startups in the UK attracted £6.3bn in venture backing this year, according to new figures released today by Tech Nation and Dealroom. In the same period, the [...]
Chinese city leads global house price growth as Europe lags behind December 20, 2018 The Chinese city of Xi’an recorded the highest level of house price growth this year as Asia pulls ahead of a sluggish European market. House prices in Xi’an, which is the capital of Shaanxi Province in central China, grew 20 per cent in the year to September, according to Knight Frank’s Global Residential Cities Index. [...]
Government edits no deal documents to remove the word ‘unlikely’ December 20, 2018 The Brexit department confirmed it had stepped up ‘no deal’ planning by updating government advice to remove the claim it is an “unlikely” outcome. A tranche of technical notices released by the government since the summer repeatedly claimed the chance of leaving the EU without an agreement was “unlikely”. However, following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, where [...]
Lloyd’s of London prepares for Brexit with new European team December 20, 2018 Lloyd’s of London has appointed a team to head up its Brussels hub as the insurance giant seeks to insure itself against Brexit. Sonja Rottiers takes over as chief executive of newly formed Lloyd’s Brussels. She will be joined on the board by new chairman Michel Flamée, a former board member of the National Bank of [...]
Vladimir Putin says UK and Russia must break ‘deadlock’ in sour relations December 20, 2018 Vladimir Putin has held his annual press conference in which he said Russia and Britain must get out of the "deadlock" in the sour relations. The Russian president said he was interested in restoring "full relations" with Britain, which has imposed sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter [...]
Andrea Leadsom and Amber Rudd float alternative ‘Plan B’ Brexit options to PM’s deal December 20, 2018 Cabinet members Amber Rudd and Andrea Leadsom have set out their alternative Brexit options as the Prime Minister continues to struggle to make her case for her Brexit deal. Work and pensions secretary Rudd told ITV last night that a second referendum was a "plausible" way forward if MPs could not reach a consensus. Rudd added [...]