London mayor Sadiq Khan launches new unit to tackle violent crime in the capital September 19, 2018 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said violent crime should be treated as a public health issue as he launched a new unit to tackle the problem that has engulfed the capital. Khan has injected the new unit, which will be staffed with police officers, public health staff and local government, with an initial sum of £500,000 in the [...]
David Davis: Brexit negotiations to be ‘reset’ in November September 19, 2018 Brexit negotiations could be “reset” in November as the UK and EU struggle to strike a deal they both find acceptable, according to former Brexit secretary David Davis. The EU’s stance towards the UK will soften in the coming months as both sides try to bridge the gap in negotiations to avoid a no deal scenario, [...]
Ditch talk of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit to spare motor industry £5bn tariffs, pleads trade body September 19, 2018 The car industry body has urged Theresa May to ditch talk of a "no-deal" Brexit, saying it would lead to £5bn tariffs for a sector that is already in trouble. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a no-deal Brexit – in which the UK would crash out of the EU on terms set [...]
Britain and the US can show the world what a free trade deal should like September 19, 2018 Now might seem an odd time to be considering new free trade deals with the US, when President Donald Trump has just escalated his trade war with China by imposing new tariffs on $200bn worth of goods. The UK, meanwhile, is still focused on resolving the uncertainty surrounding its future trading relationship with the EU. [...]
Ignore Michael Gove – there’ll be no chance to edit Chequers once the ink is dry September 19, 2018 Theresa May’s ambush of her own cabinet in July by presenting the fait accompli of the proposed Chequers deal, which the EU remains unconvinced about and which will be the subject of discussion among EU leaders in Salzburg tomorrow, was for me the low point of the Brexit negotiations. That was until last Sunday, when [...]
The Bank of England’s own data negates Carney’s overhyped house price warning September 19, 2018 No one can tell them quite like Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England. He appears to have briefed the cabinet last week that house prices could fall by 35 per cent in the event of a no-deal Brexit. To be fair, the Bank did try to qualify this figure by saying that [...]
‘Wild West’ world of cryptocurrencies needs to be regulated, MPs warn Philip Hammond September 19, 2018 The "Wild West" world of cryptocurrencies needs to be independently regulated to protect customers and prevent money-laundering, a powerful group of MPs today demanded. A report from the Treasury Select Committee warns the current system of self-regulation is not fit for purpose, and adverts promoting digital currencies are often misleading. Among the problems facing cryptocurrency [...]
EU working to improve Irish border backstop proposal, Barnier says September 18, 2018 The European Union has softened its approach to the Irish border backstop "insurance policy" arrangement, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said this evening, in a push to effectively complete the Brexit deal within the next month. Speaking in Brussels ahead of a summit of EU leaders in Salzburg tomorrow and Thursday, Barnier confirmed that work was ongoing to improve the offer to Britain and said [...]
Time for the government to set out the details of its post-Brexit immigration policy September 18, 2018 Inch by inch, the government is creeping closer to a new immigration policy. With the publication yesterday of the Migration Advisory Committee's (MAC) report, there are no reasons left not to set out a vision for this complicated and contentious area of policy. The expectation is that Theresa May will use her speech to [...]
Tit-for-tat Trump tariffs to take trans-Pacific trade toll September 18, 2018 The trade war between the US and China escalated today as the world’s two largest economies imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The Chinese commerce ministry said it had to retaliate against America's decision to levy 10 per cent tariffs on $200bn (£150bn) worth of Chinese goods from 24 September [...]