Boris Johnson to stand for Uxbridge and South Ruislip August 26, 2014 London mayor Boris Johnson has applied to stand as the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in next year's general election. Johnson, who has been the mayor since he unseated Ken Livingstone in 2008, submitted his name to the Conservative Campaign Headquarters this morning, two days before the deadline. If his bid [...]
Islamic State in Syria: Obama authorises surveillance flights August 26, 2014 US President Barack Obama has authorised the use of surveillance flights to monitor the activities of Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The news came from a senior US administration official who spoke to the AP news agency on condition of anonymity. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US Central Command overseeing American [...]
Boris Johnson attacked by top Lib Dems and Tories over rights of Isis suspects August 25, 2014 Boris Johnson came under fire yesterday from ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve and deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for suggesting that Brits suspected of fighting for Islamic State (IS) should be considered guilty until proven innocent. “It is a draconian proposal… if we were to do this we would be undermining our own values and ultimately [...]
French government dissolved as Hollande goes on the offensive August 25, 2014 His name is rarely written without a negative adjective, usually beleaguered, but Francois Hollande is going on the offensive. The French President, whose approval ratings are unlikely to give pollsters vertigo, has responded quickly to a left-wing revolt in his cabinet. Manuel Valls, ally and prime minister, tabled the resignation of his government paving the [...]
Is the ECB considering quantitative easing? August 25, 2014 European markets are up this morning after European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi gave a doveish speech in Jackson Hole (Friday). The ECB, Draghi implied, could be gearing up for more monetary stimulus, in order to address the ongoing stagnation in the Eurozone economy. Inflation in the Eurozone has been perilously low of late, [...]
Theresa May to tackle extremism in Britain with new laws but warns it will take decades to eradicate August 23, 2014 The Home Secretary Theresa May has announced plans to tackle home-grown extremism following the murder of the US journalist James Foley by a suspected British Jihadist. New measures dubbed “anti-social behaviour orders” for extremists will seek to curtail extremist behaviour and language and make it illegal to join extremist groups not directly involved in terrorism, [...]
Fed’s Janet Yellen hints at an early rate rise August 22, 2014 New US Fed chief Janet Yellen raised the prospect of an earlier-than-expected rise in interest rates during her first address to the audience of central bank chiefs at the Kansas City Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. Yellen, who started her job in February this year, studiously avoided making any commitments to new [...]
Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech: Full text August 22, 2014 Janet Yellen opened the Kansas City Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday for the first time since she was installed as chair of the US Fed. Her speech, on the subject of "labour market dynamics and monetary policy", called for "pragmatic" policy, and said there was "no simple recipe" to help the [...]
Burberry boss Christopher Bailey takes home £5.2m August 21, 2014 Burberry chief executive Christopher Bailey has pocketed £5.2m from share sales just weeks after shareholders rebelled over a controversial £27m pay package awarded to him this year. A regulatory filing yesterday showed that the luxury brand’s new boss exercised options on shares granted under previous award schemes. A spokesperson said the main reason for the [...]
George Osborne accused of obstructing MPs over Co-op and Lloyds Bank deal August 20, 2014 George Osborne was accused of unreasonably withholding information on ministers’ meetings with Lloyds and Co-op bankers in a series of confrontational letters published yesterday. He was accused of obstructing MPs trying to work out whether the government pressured bank executives into their ill-fated deal. The chancellor claims ongoing probes prevent him from telling the Treasury [...]