PM to host press conference later as freight stacks up at border December 21, 2020 The Prime Minister will hold a Downing Street press conference later amidst ongoing chaos at the UK-France border. Despite assurances from French authorities that goods would start moving again after a ban on Brits entering the continent, lorries have begun to stack up at Dover and other ports. The Elysee announced a total ban on [...]
Best of 2020: Europe hurtles into decline, almost unnoticed December 21, 2020 As the year winds down, City A.M. is looking back at the columns that tell the story of our year. For a Europe that has made managing rather than solving economic crises into an art form, the time for paying the piper is fast approaching. The continent’s long-stagnating economy is perched at the edge of [...]
Retailers feel Tier 4 pain as footfall drops 40 per cent December 21, 2020 Retail footfall plunged by 40 per cent in the areas of England put under Tier 4 restrictions such as London, laying bare the impact of the restrictions on shop-owners during the crucial Christmas period. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced London and parts of the south and south east of England would go into [...]
Pound plummets as countries ban UK travel and Brexit talks falter December 21, 2020 The pound fell off a cliff on Monday after France, Germany and others cut transport links with the UK amid fears of a new coronavirus strain, while Brexit talks reached another impasse. Sterling dropped 2.1 per cent against the dollar to $1.323. It also fell 1.2 per cent versus the euro to €1.089. The FTSE [...]
New: ‘Health protocol’ to be put in place in hours to get freight moving, says French transport minister December 21, 2020 “A solid health protocol” will be put in place in the coming hours so flows of goods between the UK and France can resume, the French transport minister has said. There has been chaos at Dover this morning after the French government banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours, including freight drivers, prompting [...]
Sainsbury’s warns of gaps on shelves if Dover chaos is not sorted December 21, 2020 Sainsbury’s has warned that gaps will start to appear on shelves within days if transport ties are not quickly restored with mainland Europe. The transport of freight across the English Channel has been disrupted after France suspended travel links with Britain yesterday to try to curb a new faster spreading strain of Covid-19. The supermarket [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group withdraws income guidance on Tier 4 news December 21, 2020 Frasers Group has withdrawn its published guidance of a 20 per cent to 30 per cent underling improvement in EBITDA in the wake of the latest coronavirus restrictions. Due to the closure of almost all stores in London and the southeast during the year’s peak retail trading period, Frasers Group said it was withdrawing the [...]
Breaking up Christmas dinner ‘will not be a priority’, says senior police officer December 21, 2020 Eight people having Christmas dinner together will not be a priority for the police on Christmas Day, according to a senior police officer, despite those in Tier 4 being told not to mix at Christmas. Police Federation chair John Apter told Sky News there would not be extra police on shift during Christmas, and that [...]
US agrees $900bn Covid stimulus package December 21, 2020 Congressional leaders in the US have agreed a $900bn coronavirus stimulus package to help individuals and the economy affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The package would be the second-largest economic stimulus in US history, following a $2.3tn aid bill passed in March. It comes as the pandemic accelerates, infecting more than 214,000 people in the [...]
Shapps claims ‘this is not unusual’ ahead of emergency Cobra meeting on Dover December 21, 2020 Boris Johson will hold a meeting with the government’s emergency committee this morning after France closed its border with the UK following a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus in the South East of England. Last night the French government banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours, including freight drivers. The move comes [...]