Editor’s Notes: Davos – a festival of irrelevance and hypocrisy January 25, 2019 Davos brings the same delights every year. From the press release about the number of private jet movements to Oxfam’s annual criticism of the global super-rich, there are predictable elements to this week-long event. Another thing you can always be assured of is that some staggering hypocrisy will be on display. I came across a [...]
‘No deal’ would be a betrayal of Leave voters’ hopes, warns Philip Hammond January 24, 2019 Leaving the EU without a deal would be a betrayal of the people who voted Leave in the hope of a better future, Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned as pressure grew on Theresa May to rule out exiting the bloc without an agreement. Just days before parliament resumes voting on Brexit, ministers, business leaders and trade [...]
Apprenticeship levels up on last year but still hampered by 2017 levy January 24, 2019 More people started apprenticeships in the first quarter of the 2018-19 academic year than in the year before, but are still below equivalent figures reported in 2016-17 and 2015-16. There were 132,000 starts between August and October last year, up 15.4 per cent year-on-year from 114,300, according to Department for Education (DfE) figures published this [...]
Brexit: Minister dares May to sack him for calling no deal a ‘disaster’ January 24, 2019 A business minister has dared Theresa May to sack him as he publicly agreed with claims a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be a “disaster” for industry. Richard Harrington, minister for industry and energy, said he was “delighted” to read comments from Airbus chief Tom Enders on Thursday laying into the government’s handling of Brexit. Enders claimed [...]
Second referendum plan pulled by MPs as they blame Jeremy Corbyn for a lack of support January 24, 2019 MPs campaigning for another EU referendum have dropped plans to push for a Commons vote on the plan, blaming Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of support. A cross-party group, led by Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, used a press conference outside Parliament to announce a proposed amendment to Theresa May’s Brexit motion had been abandon. The amendment, which [...]
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier rules out time-limited Irish backstop in radio interview January 24, 2019 Michel Barnier has ruled out putting a time limit on the so-called Irish backstop as part of Britain’s revised withdrawal deal from the EU. The bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator said a time-limited backstop would defeat its purpose as a guarantee against a hard border in Ireland. “We have to maintain the credibility of this reassurance,” [...]
Big tech firms like Google, Amazon and Facebook spent a record amount on political lobbying last year January 24, 2019 Google, Amazon and Facebook's bill for lobbying the US government hit record highs last year, as life under the Trump administration put big tech firms in the spotlight. Google parent firm Alphabet said it spent $21.2m (£16.3m) on political lobbying costs in the US last year, topping its previous all-time high of $18.2m achieved in 2012. It [...]
DEBATE: Following reports of the Dyson relocation, is Singapore the new go-to place for tech? January 24, 2019 Following reports of the Dyson relocation, is Singapore the new go-to place for tech? Elsa Hu, director of Asia at GP Bullhound, says YES. Singapore has long been the headquarters of choice for Southeast Asian tech startups, due to its mature business ecosystem, proximity to two of the world’s booming economies, huge talent pool, and attitude [...]
The Franco-German push for EU integration may backfire January 24, 2019 Amid the turmoil of the Brexit process, it is perhaps understandable that British eyes have not been focused much on recent developments within the European Union. After all, nobody is particularly interested in changes in a club when their membership is about to lapse. But just as we are preparing to set the seal on our [...]
The US government shutdown drags on, but London never closes for business January 24, 2019 As the longest government shutdown in US history rumbles on – sparked by Donald Trump’s insistence to build a border wall that Democrats in Congress have refused to grant funding for – Wall Street and Silicon Valley have been left in serious IPO limbo. Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have not worked [...]