Theresa May will freeze fuel duty as Conservatives look to limit cost of living increases on working families October 3, 2018 Fuel duty will be frozen for the ninth year in a row, Prime Minister Theresa May will say in her speech to Conservative party conference in Birmingham today, in a populist pitch to working families. May's speech, in which she'll hope to steal back the lime-light from former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, will also set [...]
‘End Brexit psychodrama’ – Chamber of Commerce chief pleads with the Tories October 2, 2018 The Tories must end their Brexit "pyschodrama" and focus on making the economy "fighting fit", the head of the British Chambers of Commerce has warned. Speaking to City A.M. on the eve of Theresa May's speech to her party conference, BCC director general Adam Marshall pleaded with the government to focus attention on other problems [...]
Italian borrowing costs rise to four-year high as Rome-Brussels confrontation looms October 2, 2018 The cost of borrowing for the Italian sovereign rose to its highest since 2014 today amid investor fears of a face-off with the EU over the size of the deficit under the populist government’s spending plans. The yield on a 10-year sovereign bond, which moves inversely to prices, surged by more than 20 basis points [...]
Airbnb reveals its UK tax bill amid Tory calls for a digital services tax October 2, 2018 Airbnb paid just shy of £600,000 in UK tax last year, City A.M. can reveal, as chancellor Philip Hammond raises calls for a unilateral digital services tax on tech firms. In financial accounts seen by City A.M. and due to be published on Companies House later this week, Airbnb paid just £596,992 in corporate tax in the year [...]
Theresa May claims Boris Johnson will ‘tear up’ Northern Ireland promise October 2, 2018 Theresa May has hit back at Boris Johnson's plan for Brexit, claiming it would "tear up" the UK's pledge to Northern Ireland. In a series of interviews on Tuesday afternoon, May tore into Johnson's Brexit vision as it would see the need for customs checks on goods crossing the UK's border with Ireland. Her comments [...]
Tesla raises fears over China tariffs despite beating Model 3 delivery targets October 2, 2018 Production of Tesla cars reached a record high in the last quarter, but the firm remained hesitant of future success in China as a result of 40 per cent tariffs imposed on automotive imports from the US. The electric vehiclemaker said it produced over 80,000 cars in the third quarter, while deliveries to customers reached [...]
Boris Johnson launches no-holds barred attack on Theresa May’s Brexit plan in highly-anticipated conference speech October 2, 2018 Boris Johnson took a hammer to Theresa May's Brexit plan today as he claimed her proposals were "dangerous and unstable". Addressing a packed fringed meeting at the Conservative party conference, the former foreign secretary dubbed the so-called Chequers plan "an outrage" that was "not democracy". Read more: Conservative Party conference app flaw exposes MPs' phone [...]
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt backpedals on ‘Soviet prison’ comments about EU October 2, 2018 Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, has backtracked on comments he made about the European Union in which he compared the group to the Soviet Union. Hunt provoked condemnation and mockery on Sunday, after he said the EU risked becoming like a Soviet “prison” because of its negotiation stance on Britain’s exit from the EU. Read [...]
Debate: Given the Tory party’s proposal to ban restaurants from taking a share of staff tips, is regulation necessary? October 2, 2018 Debate: Given the Tory party’s proposal to ban restaurants from taking a share of staff tips, is regulation necessary? YES – Scott Corfe is chief economist at the Social Market Foundation. The rise of the service charge in UK restaurants has led to a great deal of confusion. Often listed as discretionary on bills, many [...]
Theresa May’s vision-free approach is alienating us all October 2, 2018 An opening day Conservative conference speech by former CBI Director-General Digby Jones might not have been expected to diagnose the Prime Minister’s key weakness. But defending Theresa May’s Brexit approach, the former Labour minister unwittingly exposed the reason that the Prime Minister has alienated much of her party: she is a vision-free zone. Riffing off [...]