America’s bullying on foreign tax will penalise UK firms December 6, 2012 NEXT week, the Treasury will publish draft legislation detailing how Britain’s financial sector will be forced to implement a punitive piece of US tax legislation. Although hailed this week by George Osborne as a weapon in the fight against tax avoidance, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) has severe implications for hundreds of British firms. [...]
Was the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee right to reject further stimulus? December 6, 2012 YES David Kern The Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision to keep quantitative easing (QE) at £375bn was the correct one. Opinion has shifted in recent months against adding to QE. But the MPC remains divided on the subject, and an increase cannot be ruled out if the economy weakens further in early 2013. Such a [...]
Rapid responses December 6, 2012 Bank liabilities [Re: A case of lies, damn lies and our rocketing national debt, Wednesday] I’m always amazed how easily many swallow the idea that government debt and other commitments from “financial interventions” can be safely separated. By doing so, we hide the fact that the true debt figure increased from roughly £500bn to over [...]
The schlocky horror show December 6, 2012 FILM THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS Cert 18 *** Written AND directed by Wu-Tang founding member and long time buddy of Quentin Tarantino, the RZA, The Man with the Iron Fists sails dangerously close to the point at which geeky fanboy genre pastiche turns into plain, simple rubbish. The Man with the Iron Fists [...]
Meta doesn’t mean better December 6, 2012 FILM SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Cert 18 | by Alex Dymoke ** Writing a film about writers’ block is sort of confessing you can’t think of anything to say. But writing isn’t only blocked by a lack of ideas. Blockages can also be caused by too many. The latter is a problem for Seven Psychopaths, the smart [...]
Plus: uncomfortable thrillers, indie rom coms and Miley Cyrus December 6, 2012 FILM Celeste & Jesse Forever Cert 15 | by Steve Dinneen *** Celeste & Jesse Forever opens with one of those cutesy “couple bonding” montages familiar to anyone with the constitution to regularly sit through romantic comedies. But ha! It’s not what you think! They are separated! High flyer Celeste and underachiever Jesse are one [...]
Where to Drink December 6, 2012 Warm the cockles of your heart this festive season with a beverage from one of London’s newest ventures. South Kensington’s The Brompton Club was recently rebooted as Brompton by London nightlife impresarios Antoin Commane and Diego Bivero-Volpe. The revamped private members’ club features a country chic design with Art Deco gracenotes and a nod towards [...]
Celebrate Christmas in style this year December 6, 2012 1. Slava’s Snowshow at the Royal Festival Hall 17 Dec – 7 Jan After a sell-out session last Christmas, Slava’s Snowshow returns to London’s Royal Festival Hall this month. The internationally acclaimed show is ideal for a family day out, featuring performances from clowns and musicians with a finale that leaves the audience knee-deep in [...]
Manchester giants set to cancel each other out in Sunday’s derby December 6, 2012 MANCHESTER CITY MANCHESTER UNITED Sunday 1.30pm IT has been a poor couple of weeks for Manchester City with Roberto Mancini’s men winning just one of their last five games. To add insult to injury, Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win in midweek ended their participation in Europe altogether for the season. The outcome will have been a [...]
Allardyce to inflict a Hammer blow on Rodgers December 6, 2012 WEST HAM LIVERPOOL … Sunday 4pm WEST HAM took an important step towards relocating to the Olympic Stadium this week and victory over Liverpool would cap an excellent few days for the club. Sam Allardyce’s outfit showed their fighting spirit negotiating a tricky first half against Chelsea last time out and will need more of [...]
