IMF data shows there’s even less cash to splash October 11, 2018 Positive news around the public finances has been forthcoming in 2018, following years of disappointingly slow deficit reduction. Borrowing fell to a 16-year low in the fiscal year that ended in April, while in July the Treasury recorded its biggest surplus since 2000. Thus it was a shame to be brought crashing back down to [...]
Surveyors forecast fall in house prices as house buyers decline October 11, 2018 A renewed decline in the number of house buyers is piling further pressure on London’s strained property market, according to a closely followed survey out today. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said there was “caution” from buyers last month, as Bank of England governor Mark Carney reportedly warned prices could drop 35 [...]
DEBATE: Should Britain heed the Japanese Prime Minister and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership after Brexit? October 10, 2018 Should Britain heed the Japanese Prime Minister and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership after Brexit? Molly Kiniry, researcher at the Legatum Institute, says YES. The UK has been promised a welcome with “open arms” to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP), perhaps the most comprehensive multilateral trade agreement negotiated to date. The mechanics [...]
Watchdog asked to look into hedge funds use of polling companies October 10, 2018 The financial conduct watchdog will be asked to investigate the relationship between polling companies and hedge funds by the chair of Parliament's influential Treasury Committee. Tory MP Nicky Morgan made the announcement after receiving a "disappointing" response from the British Polling Council (BPC) over concerns about the use of private survey data by financial institutions. [...]
Michel Barnier tells UK to abandon free trade plans to get Brexit deal October 10, 2018 Theresa May must abandon her plans for free trade deals with the rest of the world in order to get a Brexit deal, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday. Speaking in Brussels, Barnier said a full customs union between the UK and the EU would solve the controversial Irish backstop issue as no [...]
British exports to EU to be ‘cut in half’ by hard Brexit warns German think tank October 10, 2018 Britain and the EU would sustain economic hits worth billions of pounds if no Brexit deal is agreed before the 29 March 2019, according to analysis by a German think tank. British exports to Europe could fall by as much as 50 per cent, while German exports would decrease by 43 per cent, according to [...]
Business will pay a ‘heavy price’ for lack of Brexit communication from ministers, warns spending watchdog October 10, 2018 Businesses have paid a "heavy price" for ministers not speaking to them more about the government's Brexit plans, the head of Parliament's spending watchdog has told MPs. Sir Amyas Morse accused ministers of underestimating how well the business community would have coped with planning for different outcomes of the talks with Brussels, leaving many in [...]
Brexit means nearly 1,000 pages of Brexit from the Financial Conduct Authority October 10, 2018 The City watchdog today made moves to make Brexit mean Brexit in its rules, publishing two enormous papers detailing changes to regulation in case of a no-deal Brexit. The Financial Conduct Authority published a 781-page doorstopper consultation on changes to its handbook and the EU’s binding technical standards (BTS), alongside a comparatively slim 150-page consultation [...]
DUP will vote down Budget if Theresa May compromises in Brexit talks October 10, 2018 DUP MPs are prepared to vote down this month's Budget if Theresa May breaks any of the party's red lines in the Brexit talks, it has been reported. The Northern Ireland party's 10 MPs keep May in power thanks a to a 'confidence and supply' deal agreed after the 2017 General Election. But as time [...]
Government expects 5,000 Brexit job losses for the City October 10, 2018 The government expects the City of London to lose 5,000 jobs because of Brexit, the City minister said today. John Glen said he backed the estimates of the head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Sam Woods, on the number of job moves at a hearing of the House of Lords' EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee. Large [...]