While looking for Brexit opportunities: Jacob Rees-Mogg profits directly from Chinese pharma and Russian gas investments February 21, 2022 The government’s new minister for Brexit opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, is directly profiting from significant investments in a pharmaceutical company in China as well as a Russian gas company, according to reports. Somerset Capital, in which Rees-Mogg holds a 12 per cent stake, reportedly invested £5.7m on behalf of clients in a company that potentially faces [...]
Despite £20bn drop in exports, Jacob Rees-Mogg sees no evidence Brexit has hit trade: ‘Evidence is few and far between’ February 17, 2022 Jacob Rees-Mogg, the brand new minister for Brexit opportunities, has said that “Brexit was already a success” and businesses have not been hurt by the UK’s departure from the EU. On the contrary, because when asked whether Brexit had reduced UK trade, Rees-Mogg replied: “I think Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country.” “I [...]
Post-Brexit immigration ‘unlikely to move the dial on big-picture economic outcomes’ or wages February 17, 2022 A shortage of migrant workers alone is “unlikely” to increase wages in the longer term and the UK’s post-Brexit immigration system “will do little to change the UK’s economic trajectory”, according to the Resolution Foundation. The think tank said its research shows immigration has changed the size and shape of the UK’s workforce in recent decades, [...]
Brexit shaves off record £20bn from UK exports in one year alone with imports from EU also dropping February 16, 2022 UK exports to EU countries shrunk by a record £20bn in just 20 months, according to new figures. Sales to the EU dropped more significantly in 2021 than exports to any other country in the world, the ONS data shows, as UK to EU exports nosedived 12 per cent between January and December of last [...]
Brexit: City firms to be cut off from EU derivatives clearing access after June 2025 February 15, 2022 UK-based derivatives clearing houses will no longer have access to the European Union after June 2025, the EU’s financial services chief has said. Mairead McGuinness confirmed that the EU will no longer allow non-EU, UK-based firms to operate within the bloc from the summer of 2025, “I am very clear that June 2025 is the [...]
Hormone-treated beef from Canada to flood UK food chain under CPTPP deal, British farmers warn February 14, 2022 Canada is pushing for hormone-treated beef to be made available across the UK once Britain joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). According to the National Farmers Union, the deal would “severely undermine British farmers” and lower the quality of meet sold across the UK. CPTPP – a trade deal among a [...]
Brexit: £25.4bn non-EU imports overtake EU imports for first time with China trade at all-time high February 13, 2022 Annual UK goods imports from outside the EU have surpassed the value of those from within it for the first time since ONS records began in 1997, according to new data shared with City A.M. this weekend. Imports from the UK’s nearest trading bloc totalled £22.2bn compared to £25.4bn from all other countries in 2021 [...]
Dear Jacob Rees-Mogg, it’s time to make good on Brexit promises with new City rules February 11, 2022 Business leaders once again find themselves pondering the shape and size of Britain’s economy post-Brexit. Brexit was always designed to be a two-part plan. Part one was leaving. But, as noted in the report by the Public Accounts Committee, for some sectors it’s been a triple whammy of red-tape, double regulation and rising compliance costs. [...]
Brexit in Bern: EU immigration row heats up as Switzerland threatens to leave Schengen area February 10, 2022 Switzerland is threatening to leave the Schengen zone if the EU countries that are part of the visa treaty move to strengthen their border force Frontex, which Brussels is pushing for. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard, is the collective term for national border and coast guard forces within the EU’s Schengen Area, as [...]
Govt told: ‘Don’t overpromise but be honest’ about Brexit as red tape, costs and delays hit UK firms February 9, 2022 The public spending watchdog warned this morning that UK trade with the EU has been knocked by Brexit and businesses have faced higher costs, more paperwork and border delays since Britain’s withdrawal. A report by the Public Accounts Committee found that while it was difficult to untangle how much of the hit to trade since [...]