George Osborne’s train named Northern Powerhouse breaks down three times in four months July 21, 2015 Is the Northern Powerhouse running out of steam already? Back in March chancellor George Osborne renamed a refurbished Class 319 electric train operated by Northern Rail, the 'Northern Powerhouse' – supposedly as a symbol of the transformation he is pushing for northern England with his multi-billion Northern Powerhouse project. But the train has broken down [...]
Chancellor George Osborne defends bank surcharge at Treasury Select Committee grilling July 21, 2015 MPs of the Treasury Select Committee have grilled chancellor George Osborne, questioning him on a variety of issues, including the new bank tax. Led by Mark Garnier, the chancellor was asked to explain his justification for replacing the bank levy with a new surcharge. At the committee hearing, Garnier said: I welcome the change of [...]
Red tape officers must allow banks to take risks: There’s no business without it July 21, 2015 It's clear there is still a major gap in understanding how growth can be maintained and stimulated by effective risk management, rather than restricted by focusing purely on compliance control as this recent report on soaring pay for so-called red tape officers shows. Some still blame excessive regulation for a stalling in financial firms’ [...]
Chancellor George Osborne told to “sit down man” by speaker John Bercow July 21, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne was already looking at a fairly stressful day, given he's being grilled by the Treasury Select Committee about the Budget and the spending review he announced earlier in the day. Read more: Chancellor George Osborne defends bank surcharge as he faces Treasury Select Committee What he probably didn't expect was to be [...]
Government spending review: More public land to be sold off for homes as George Osborne seeks £20bn in savings July 21, 2015 Remember, remember 25 November: that's when the government will publish its spending review, setting out exactly how it will cut £20bn to eradicate the country's deficit over the next five years. And it looks like that a pretty major literal land-grab will be taking place. The chief secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands [...]
Treasury to cut Bank of England monetary policy committee meetings from 12 to eight July 21, 2015 If you've been getting fed up with months of MPC updates with no change – and let's face it, after six years of the same update, who isn't – then there's some good news. The number of monetary policy committee meetings is about to be reduced to just eight per year, down from 12. This [...]
George Osborne set for a grilling over new bank tax July 20, 2015 George Osborne is expected to face a grilling from MPs today over the new bank surcharge – set to be introduced next year – when he appears before a Treasury select committee for the first time since the Budget. Mark Garnier, a Conservative minister on the Treasury select committee, told City A.M. that while [...]
The Bank of England could – and should– have raised UK interest rates much sooner July 20, 2015 Heartening as it was to hear the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, dropping hints last week about the raising of Bank Rate, serious doubts remain over the effectiveness of the low interest rate regime in reviving the economy. Moreover, the impression continues to be given that the delay in raising rates carries [...]
French President François Hollande calls for a Eurozone parliament with a shared budget July 20, 2015 French President François Hollande wants to see a new parliament and a shared budget for Eurozone countries. Writing in Le Journal Du Dimanche, a French Sunday paper, Hollande said: Europe has let its institutions weaken and the 28 governments struggle to agree to move forward. [National] parliaments remain too far from decisions. And the peoples [...]
David Cameron sets out five-year plan to fight Islamic extremism in UK July 19, 2015 The Prime Minister will today call on Britain to fight the “subversive” doctrine of Islamist extremism and its “sick worldview”. In a keynote speech in Birmingham today, the Prime Minister will set out the principles he will adopt over the next five years to defeat extremism. Addressing the “struggle of our generation”, he [...]