The new Brexit Wars episode is out: May the force be with you December 17, 2018 Maybe it’s just me, but the Stormtroopers in the new Star Wars movies never seem to have the same menace as the old ones. Last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his colleagues in the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative party looked like they believed that they had gone old-school – Empire Strikes Back. [...]
So what does the DUP really, really want? A no-deal Brexit December 14, 2018 “So tell me what you want, what you really, really want,” sang the Spice Girls in their debut single in June 1996, the same month that multi-party talks were established to kickstart the Irish peace process. Now, 22 years later, it is a question that could well be asked of the DUP. This week, all [...]
Theresa May delays crunch Brexit vote until January December 13, 2018 MPs won’t get a vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal until January, Downing Street have confirmed. The withdrawal agreement was set to be put before Parliament on Tuesday, but was pulled the day before as May faced a growing rebellion within her own party. The Prime Minister has been in conversations with EU leaders since [...]
Emergency Brexit debate: Corbyn tells MPs he will table no confidence vote ‘at appropriate time’ December 11, 2018 Jeremy Corbyn has told MPs he will table a vote of no confidence “at the appropriate time”, as Prime Minister Theresa May meets European leaders today to discuss amendments to the Brexit transition deal. Speaking this afternoon in an emergency debate on the PM's decision yesterday to postpone the so-called meaningful vote on the deal, the [...]
Here’s how politicians and markets are reacting to parliament’s Brexit vote being pulled December 10, 2018 Reports that Prime Minister Theresa May has pulled a highly-anticipated parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal have sent shockwaves through Westminster and into wider business world. Sources told City A.M. tomorrow’s so-called meaningful vote, in which May faced almost-certain defeat, has been dropped after over 100 Conservative MPs vowed to vote against the government. The [...]
ITV pulls the plug on Brexit debate between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn December 7, 2018 ITV has joined the BBC in pulling out of hosting this weekend’s proposed Brexit debate, with the Conservatives and Labour again unable to agree on how to structure the televised debate. ITV said it “invited the Prime Minister and leader of the opposition to appear in an ITV programme this Sunday evening, and we have been [...]
‘Big Short’ investor Steve Eisman bets against UK banks December 7, 2018 Investor Steve Eisman who is known for his prediction of the 2008 financial crisis has said he is betting against three UK banks. Eisman, who was played by actor Steve Carell in the film The Big Short, said he thinks the British market will go down because of Brexit. He said that he bet against [...]
Fixing the rail system means putting passengers first December 5, 2018 The headlines yesterday that Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) must spend £15m on passenger improvements to hold onto its franchise will be welcome if overdue news for the droves of commuters whose lives were made hell during the timetable chaos earlier this year. The Department for Transport labelled GTR’s performance “unacceptable”, and has not only decreed [...]
Voting with your wallet is the ultimate consumer power December 4, 2018 The Labour party leadership believes that income inequality is far too high. As socialists, they think of income as centrally distributed, like slices of cake at a birthday party. Top company executives have seen sharp increases in pay in recent decades, so in Labour’s view, that means less sponge and icing for workers. The cutter [...]
Digital Withdrawal: How Britain’s fast-growing tech sector can flourish in the face of Brexit December 2, 2018 The last five years have seen an extraordinary phenomenon. The powerhouse that is the UK tech sector has boomed to a value of more than £180bn, outpacing the sluggish UK economy as a whole. Want to buy clothes online? Asos and FarFetch are leading the world. Play games on your smartphone? You’ve probably enjoyed one made [...]