Rebel platoon gives government a scare March 11, 2020 Despite the best efforts of the government, today’s Budget will be the Coronavirus Budget. As much as Downing Street wants to refocus the conversation — even for a day — on its “levelling up” agenda, attention will inevitably fall on the chancellor’s economic antidote to the effects of the outbreak. But it isn’t just ministers [...]
Government bides its time as markets panic March 10, 2020 When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions. Global markets were already nervous about the looming consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, so Saudi Arabia’s declaration of an oil price war obliterated what little confidence remained on trading floors around the globe. Oil prices had already fallen as the virus took a bite [...]
Chancellor faces tough job as virus fears grow March 9, 2020 Sajid Javid never got to deliver a Budget, and now his successor will this week unveil one of the most important in decades. Wednesday’s statement was meant to be a showpiece for a government determined to “level-up” the economy and flex its newly-won Commons majority. While ministers are still hoping to regain some political initiative [...]
It’s on: Khan v Bailey will be a chance to scrutinise the leading candidates March 6, 2020 Four years ago I chaired the first head- to-head debate between the mayoral candidates Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith. It was a dramatic encounter, with the Labour candidate (and current London mayor) laying into his rival for the Tory campaign’s descent “into the gutter.” Just days before the debate, Goldsmith had launched a stinging attack [...]
New Bank governor seems open to battle of ideas March 5, 2020 Andrew Bailey will take the governor’s seat at the Bank of England later this month amid a global health emergency that threatens to undermine the world economy and shape the Bank’s course of action for many months to come. So pressing is the issue that Bailey has effectively started work early, telling the Treasury Select [...]
The world’s biggest economy is scared March 4, 2020 The final weeks of 2019 saw the traditional flurry of analysts and market commentators raising the prospect of so-called black swan events in 2020. Looking back through these notes today, one is confronted with a range of nightmare scenarios ranging from military conflict in the South China Sea to the collapse of a major investment bank [...]
Barclays forgot about the humans in HR February 21, 2020 Barely a day goes by without a think tank, employers’ group or minister talking about the need to improve the productivity or British business, and while this generally conjures up images of factory floors it’s reassuring to know that investment banks are also searching for elusive gains. How else to explain the decision by Barclays [...]
The government is taking a gamble with its immigration reform February 20, 2020 The Brexit pennies just keep on dropping. First there was a mixture of genuine and feigned shock when the government announced it would not align itself with EU regulations. Now, the publication of a new immigration strategy has some people up in arms at the prospect of reform. But with the UK leaving the EU [...]
HSBC’s drastic reforms still leave the big questions unanswered February 19, 2020 Noel Quinn may only be an interim chief executive at HSBC but there’s nothing temporary about the sweeping changes he announced yesterday. The dramatic reduction in headcount goes further than the 10,000 figure he floated in October last year, when he said “there is scope throughout the bank to clarify and simplify roles.” Now we [...]
David Frost doesn’t sugar-coat it for the EU February 18, 2020 Trade deals are like sausages — it’s best not to see them being made. But while any UK-EU deal will certainly be the result of high compromise and low politics, Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator popped his head out of the factory door last night to offer some thoughts on his recipe for success. David Frost, [...]
