McDonnell sets out his plans for a superstate September 24, 2019 August, 2023. You had hoped to be on holiday, but you’re still waiting for your regional Workers’ Leisure Committee to allocate you some days. Still, at least you have a three-day weekend coming up. Of course, every weekend is three days long now, which took a bit of getting used to but seems to have [...]
Roll up, roll up for the Labour circus of chaos September 22, 2019 Boris Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings, had planned to disregard the Westminster convention that sees political parties maintaining a respectful silence during each other’s party conferences. There’s always a bit of a noise, but generally it’s considered fair play to let each party have the field to themselves for a couple of days a year, [...]
The ‘disaster capitalism’ Brexit conspiracy that goes right to the very top September 13, 2019 Confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. We’re probably all guilty of it in our private thoughts, but the sin is magnified when it results in an “exclusive” piece of journalism making outrageous claims about corruption and market manipulation at the very top of government. But [...]
It’s tempting, but the devil’s in the details September 12, 2019 The Stockholm Stock Exchange, the Toronto Exchange, Germany’s Deutsche Boerse, Australia’s Macquarie and the American giants Nasdaq and ICE have all danced the dance with the London Stock Exchange at one time or another. Deutsche Boerse has been the most persistent and the Americans have kept an eye on Paternoster Square. And who can blame them? [...]
If nothing else, the Lords at least offers some good debate September 6, 2019 Watching a debate in the House of Lords can lift the spirits. Admittedly, this isn’t always the case. After all, the place is so rammed with political cast-offs and the dregs of quangoland that following its proceedings can often feel like a punishment. However, during moments of great constitutional or legal significance it is to [...]
Brace yourself, this is going to get ugly September 4, 2019 Jacob Rees-Mogg described last night’s successful attempt by MPs to seize control of today’s parliamentary activity as “constitutionally improper” – which is as close as he gets to a foul-mouthed outburst. As leader of the House of Commons it is his job to navigate legislation through parliament, but he has been temporarily sidelined in favour [...]
The threat of no-deal is key to Johnson’s strategy September 2, 2019 Though it has been said many times during the UK’s ongoing Brexit drama, this week really is shaping up to be the most tumultuous we have seen in recent years. Boris Johnson’s lawful but controversial decision to suspend parliament during the run-up to 31 October has thrown rebel MPs’ plans to thwart a no-deal Brexit [...]
Short-sellers raise eyebrows but they have their place August 9, 2019 Here’s a reasonable statement: “For markets to work properly and efficiently, all parties need access to accurate information.” This claim can be found in the ‘About Us’ section of the website of Boatman Capital Research, but the philosophy does not extend to providing information about their own identity. Boatman Capital, the anonymous short-seller research outfit, [...]
The City is a meritocracy, but that only works if everyone’s given a go August 2, 2019 Sajid Javid has been culture secretary, business secretary, home secretary and now chancellor. In all that time I’ve only ever heard him give one great speech. It was, as luck would have it, at the 2015 City A.M. Awards. In Westminster and on matters of policy and politics, Javid’s delivery is invariably uninspiring – even [...]
Johnson’s critics will be confounded by the new PM’s liberalism July 26, 2019 There’s a good chance that things will go badly for Boris. He barely has a majority, his party is divided and MPs from across the house are priming their parliamentary grenades to thwart and disrupt him. On the other hand, it is at least possible that he gets a Brexit deal passed and triggers what [...]
