Raab: Stop blaming Brexit for poor business performance September 13, 2018 Brexit secretary Dominic Raab today told businesses to stop blaming Brexit for poor performance and “take responsibility”. His comments come in the wake of John Lewis posting a 99 per cent drop in profits in its half-year results this morning, which it partly attributed to Brexit. Read more: Bank of England: Hold fire until there [...]
Britain’s hostility to international students puts trade deals at risk September 13, 2018 Some 11 years ago, in parliament, I personally spearheaded the change in rules to allow international students to automatically stay on in Britain and work for two years after graduation. Sadly, this was removed by the government in 2012, under the then home secretary Theresa May. Today, that inward-looking attitude hasn’t changed. This week, the [...]
Brexit secretary Dominic Raab clashes with John Lewis as profits tumble 99 per cent September 13, 2018 Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has clashed with John Lewis after its chairman Charlie Mayfield suggested the store’s 99 per cent plunge in profits was partly due to Brexit. Profits at John Lewis plummeted to just £1.2m in the first half of this year amid what Mayfield called “challenging times” for retail. He also warned that [...]
Bank of England: Hold fire until there is Brexit certainty says the shadow MPC September 13, 2018 City economists are all but certain that the Bank of England will hold interest rates steady today, only six weeks after raising interest rates and with the Brexit endgame fast approaching. The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) will announce its latest decision at midday, with all eyes on any tweaks to guidance around the [...]
Boss of private bank Coutts says impact of Brexit negligible September 12, 2018 The chief executive of private bank Coutts said today that Brexit would have little impact on the bank or its customers. Coutts boss Peter Flavel said “the impact on us as a business [of Brexit] is not great,” in an interview on Bloomberg TV. He said the majority of the bank’s wealthy clients were UK-based, with [...]
Spirits in the sky: JD Wetherspoon axes Jägermeister and French brandy in post-Brexit plan September 12, 2018 JD Wetherspoon is ditching European spirits such as Jägermeister for non-EU equivalents in a bid to lower prices across its 880 UK pubs. Replacing the ousted continental brands, which also include French brandies Courvoisier VS and Hennessy Fine de Cognac, will be US drink E&J Brandy, Australia’s Black Bottle and Strika, a herbal liqueur produced [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says UK has received ‘no assurances’ from EU on continued flights after Brexit September 12, 2018 Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary has ramped up his warnings of a no-deal Brexit, saying the UK had received "no assurances" from the EU that flights could continue after Britain leaves the bloc. He said the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, had received "no assurances" from the EU on continued flying, and that the likelihood of [...]
EU referendum: Process stories about ‘purdah’ rules distract us from the real European Union debate – The City View September 8, 2015 It probably isn’t too much of a stretch to say that for the vast majority of people, “purdah” might as well be a brand of cat food. And yet this arcane device (limiting the activity of government during a campaign period) is currently at the heart of what passes for the debate around the [...]
Catastrophic EU VAT rules are destroying the digital sector September 8, 2015 In January, new EU VAT legislation was imposed on the broadcasting, telecoms and digital sectors, causing a crisis for SMEs. Thousands of businesses have closed, geo-blocking (the refusal of non-EU businesses to sell into the EU) is rampant, and the legislation threatens to wreck the Digital Single Market. In simple terms, the new [...]
What’s purdah and why is everyone so upset about it? Everything you need to know about yesterday’s Commons battle over the EU referendum September 8, 2015 A coalition of Labour, the SNP and nearly 40 Conservative rebels handed Prime Minister David Cameron a one-two punch late last night when they voted down the government's amendment to the EU referendum bill and backed the opposition's proposal, instead. But what actually happened? Was it as "humiliating" as some papers are saying? And [...]