Lockheed Martin to launch satellites from Shetland Islands October 22, 2020 The government has approved Lockheed Martin’s plans to move its satellite launch operations to the Shetland Islands. The decision is a major step forward in plans to build a spaceport on the archipelago to support the country’s commercial space ambitions. It is hoped that the Shetland Space Centre will support 605 jobs in Scotland by [...]
Government ‘significantly underestimating’ airport testing effectiveness, new study finds October 22, 2020 New independent analysis has emerged which calls into question the government’s claim that airport testing for coronavirus will only detect seven per cent of cases. The research, from consultancies Oxera and Edge Health, along with Dr Kit Yates from the University of Bath, says that the methodology used by Public Health England (PHE) was flawed. [...]
Russian authorities launch investigation into new Petropavlovsk boss October 22, 2020 The chief executive of embattled gold miner Petropavlovsk [LON:POG] is being investigated by Russian authorities after forcing his way into the FTSE 250 company’s offices in Moscow. On 26-27 August, Maksim Meshcheryakov was prevented from entering the firm’s office in a stand-off with staff. CCTV footage which later circulated on Russian social media showed Meshcheryakov, [...]
British Steel pension scheme trustees secure £2bn buyout October 22, 2020 Trustees of collapsed British Steel’s pension scheme have agreed a £2bn deal with insurers to secure the pensions of 30,000 staff. The agreement will see the Pension Insurance Corporation buy out the existing scheme at or above the level of compensation supplied by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). The Old British Steel Pension Scheme (OBSPS) [...]
The City View: Francis Maude on ‘defensive’ and ‘deeply flawed’ civil service October 22, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to Lord Maude, a veteran of Tory politics whose career spanned nearly 40 years from the government of Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron’s 2015 majority. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Maude, who was a signatory to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, talks about the current Brexit negotiations and says [...]
Ed Miliband calls on government to extend ‘wrongful trading’ suspension until end of year October 21, 2020 Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband has urged the government to extend the suspension of “wrongful trading” rules to the end of the year or risk a flurry of firms going bankrupt. Back in March, ministers introduced a temporary protection for business directors to protect them from liability if they kept trading despite facing bankruptcy due [...]
Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial to continue despite participant death October 21, 2020 Trials of Oxford University and Astrazeneca’s [LON:AZN] coronavirus vaccine will continue despite the death of a participant in Brazil. A spokesperson for the university said that a review of the death had not revealed any safety concerns. “Following careful assessment of this case in Brazil, there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical [...]
Rail franchises paid out £90m in delay refunds last year October 21, 2020 Rail franchises paid out nearly £90m to passengers in refunds for delays last year, new figures from the Department for Transport showed today. In total, the 27 franchises paid out £89.4m, £10m more than they did the prior year. Nearly a quarter of that figure came from London North Eastern Rail, which gave passengers £21.4m [...]
Number of Tube journeys rises again ahead of Tier 2 restrictions October 21, 2020 The number of Tube journeys rose again last week despite the announcement of harsher restrictions on the capital, new data from Transport for London (TfL) has shown. Although London was moved into Tier 2 restrictions from midnight on Friday, there was no sign of a drop off in travel ahead of the new coronavirus limitations [...]
Government warns that it will ‘take control’ of TfL unless bailout demands met October 20, 2020 The government has warned Sadiq Khan that it will take the management of Transport for London (TfL) into its own hands if the Mayor does not accept its demands as part of a new bailout deal. In return for a second rescue package, transport secretary Grant Shapps has set out a number of demands including [...]
