Another Andrew Bailey misstep was the last thing markets needed October 12, 2022 Andrew Bailey’s tenure as Bank of England governor has not been a happy one. Marked first by the pandemic, it has been defined by rising prices, an economic slowdown and now a crisis of sorts in financial markets. Amidst all of this, the one thing the City would look for would be reliable and consistent [...]
Hot takes and ignorant, political analysis on social media helps nobody October 12, 2022 If social media was as prevalent during the global financial crisis as it is today, it really might have been Armageddon. A shouting match of hot takes and immediate analysis, twitter in particular comes into its own during a financial crisis – with every latest twist and turn in markets turned into political fodder for [...]
Sturgeon wants to inspire? Her campaign is based on finger-pointing, not potential October 10, 2022 Nicola Sturgeon, yesterday, at SNP conference: “Let us inspire with hope in our hearts.” It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. This is, after all, the same Sturgeon who spent much of her speech bemoaning Westminster, the Labour party, and “aggressive unionism” for holding Scotland back – which sounds to us a [...]
Liz Truss speech: North London’s not the problem in Britain’s race to growth October 5, 2022 Like a battered boxer with a thick skull, then, Liz Truss lives to fight another day. On the ropes, yes, but not quite down and out. Yesterday’s speech was fine, as it goes, and not much more than that. It will keep her party in some degree of order for at least a week or [...]
Kwarteng u-turn bodes ill for many tough fights to come October 3, 2022 The Kwarteng u-turn on tax doesn't suggest measures on planning or infrastructure will be any easier to get past restive backbenchers
Kwarteng has no option but to stay the course on tax plans October 3, 2022 A few weeks into her new role Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng would have been forgiven for thinking that Tory conference would have been something of a party. After all, Tory party members favoured her candidacy by some margin – even if Conservative MPs were more enamoured by the now extremely quiet Rishi [...]
Government has a second chance – it can’t fluff its lines yet again September 28, 2022 The UK Economy: Apocalypse Now? Black Wednesday, Mark 2? Not quite. But if social media’s hot takes on the state of the UK economy are wide of the mark, the pressure on Kwasi Kwarteng and the Bank to restore credibility is now immense. The good news is that will not be as difficult as some [...]
Keir Starmer only halfway there on persuading business of his merits September 27, 2022 It is hard to imagine a more friendly wicket for Keir Starmer to have turned up to at Labour conference. A party broadly united behind him, and a government that (fairly or unfairly) is being blamed left, right and centre for precipitating a currency crisis and a drastic increase in the value of borrowing. We [...]
Sterling crash: Plenty of blame to go round but much of it falls on the Bank September 27, 2022 The British economy has been through a lot in recent years but a full-scale currency crisis still wins points for novelty. But for all the sound and fury of yesterday’s market movements and the so-called sterling crash, the panic is overdone. Much of the blame for yesterday’s excitement lies, rightly, with the government. This newspaper [...]
Truss’ migrant plan a welcome triumph for pragmatism over ideology September 25, 2022 On the face of it, you can see why those sitting in European capitals might scoff at Liz Truss’ plan to open up the door to higher migration in order to assist Britain’s growth push. After all, the vote for Brexit – perhaps not for its architects but unquestionably for many of those who put [...]