Explainer: The Brexit bonfire of EU laws turns into dust April 28, 2023 Rishi Sunak has smothered the “Brexit bonfire” of EU laws – and hard-line Brexiteers are fuming with rage. But the prime minister smartly refused to be the face of this u-turn, putting business secretary Kemi Badenoch on the front stage herself. This week, Badenoch had to tell Brexiteers in her party that the majority of [...]
Explainer: Netflix on the hunt for next success story with £2bn investment in South Korea April 25, 2023 Netflix is at it again. After a terrible year in 2022, the streaming giant has regained confidence and is eyeing new investments in successful markets. Its last move involved £2bn to go to South Korea. After the success of the South Korean series Squid Game, which topped global charts as the most-watched Netflix series ever [...]
Our languishing reputation on foreign aid opens the door to China’s influence April 25, 2023 The UK spends more of its shrinking aid budget on housing refugees at home than on third countries who need it. Taking this money from the aid budget is a political choice, but a short-sighted one, writes Elena Siniscalco
Explainer: Why are landlords fleeing the London market? April 24, 2023 We all know these are not great times for the housing market: rents are extortionately high, especially in the capital, mortgage rates are a constant headache, and many see their dream of buying their first property slip away as the cost-of-living crisis eats away at their savings. Against this gloomy backdrop, buy-to-let investors in London [...]
Leaseholders to gain new rights under FCA insurance reforms April 21, 2023 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed insurance reforms to protect leaseholders from paying extortionate sums for insurance. Under the new plans, leaseholders will be defined as “customers of buildings insurance” and insurance firms will be obliged to act in the leaseholders’ best interests. A leaseholder is someone who has bought the right to live [...]
Gove urges Blackrock and other investors to push cladding firms to pay for clean up costs April 20, 2023 Housing Secretary Michael Gove has warned investors that the cladding companies they invest in will face “severe consequences” if the firms don’t come forward to discuss a settlement deal with the government to fix buildings cladded with unsafe materials. In a letter to Blackrock, Vanguard, Fidelity Management and Research and other investors, Gove urged them [...]
Sadiq Khan slams private landlords profiteering from shoddy London homes April 18, 2023 The Mayor of London has slammed thousands of private landlords who are pocketing the rent and housing benefits from tenants living in housing riddled with mould and damp, branding it “a scandal”. The reaction came in response to New City Hall analysis which shows that across the country, landlords are collecting £9bn a year in [...]
Explainer: Is there an electric car price war? April 18, 2023 Execs at Renault are considering price cuts after the falling cost of a Tesla.
Artificial intelligence is transforming our music, starting with Kanye West April 18, 2023 Kanye West has never sung Hey There Delilah, yet there's his cover of the song online. It's been made using AI, and it's exemplary of how the technology is rocking the music industry, writes Elena Siniscalco
Explainer: Where is all our aid money going? April 17, 2023 China might be close to overtaking us on yet one more thing: foreign aid. Or at least this is what David Cameron said over the weekend. The former prime minister warned China is expanding its influence all over the world by lending countries huge amounts of money. Cameron’s suggested solution is to reform multilateral development [...]
