Cameron left damaged by Europe rebels October 24, 2011 WEAK weak, weak.” That was how Tony Blair characterised John Major’s leadership on Europe in January 1997. The pair were sparring over Major’s “wait and see” policy on the euro, which was openly disobeyed by many Tory backbenchers, who adopted the Reverend Ian Paisley’s refrain: “Never, never, never”. But the Labour leader could have been [...]
EUROSCEPTIC REBELS AND THE TORIES: A HISTORY October 24, 2011 August 1961 Harold Macmillan faces just one Conservative rebel, Anthony Fell, when the Commons debates his decision to open negotiations with Europe about Britain’s entry to the European Economic Community April 1972 Eighteen Tories rebel against Ted Heath by supporting a move to hold an advisory referendum on entry to the EU. Heath faces no [...]
GENERATION Y DECLARES ITS FINANCE MANIFESTO FOR FUTURE October 24, 2011 THE FINANCIAL services industry should be “a part of society, not apart from it”, said the next generation of City leaders as they set out their plans for righting past wrongs at Whitehall. Politicians and regulators including Conservative MP Matthew Hancock and Prudential’s public affairs director Miles Celic supported TheCityUK-backed group as it launched its [...]
Netflix shares hit by exodus in subscribers October 24, 2011 NETFLIX shares plunged more than 26 per cent in after-hours trading last night after the DVD and online video streaming service said it lost more US subscribers than expected in the third quarter after imposing an unpopular price hike this summer. The group said it had lost more than 800,000 subscribers – more than the [...]
Push into online streaming in the UK will not be the potion to cure giant’s ills October 24, 2011 IT HAS been a year of two halves for Netflix. It reached a share high of almost $300 in July after a meteoric rise. Last year it accounted for more web traffic than any other site on the internet (that it deals in bandwidth-heavy streaming only makes this marginally less impressive). But it decision to hike [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU USE NETFLIX? October 24, 2011 PETER GODFREY | JRP UNDERWRITING “Yes. I have used similar things in the past. Whether I use this new one over the previous ones like LoveFilm depends mainly on the cost.” ALAN WALSH | LLOYD’S OF LONDON “I would not subscribe to Netflix. As I work in the City there isn’t very much time for [...]
Polymetal to raise £518m in London IPO October 24, 2011 RUSSIAN gold and silver miner Polymetal loosened the conditions on its share swap plan yesterday to push through its bid to raise more than £500m on the London Stock Exchange. Polymetal, the world’s third-largest silver producer and currently part-controlled by tycoon Alexander Mamut (pictured), said it would price its flotation at between 910p and 1,035p [...]
Gem gets $16m for its diamond October 24, 2011 GEM Diamonds has sold the Letseng Star, a 550ct white gem diamond recovered from a mine in Lesotho, for $16.5m (£10.3m). The Type-IIa D-colour diamond was discovered in August. The Letseng Star ranks as the 14th largest white diamond on record and is the fourth diamond of such historical significance to be recovered from the [...]
Falcone funds begin to flag October 24, 2011 PHILIP Falcone’s flagship portfolio lost about 17 per cent last month as LightSquared, one of the hedge fund manager’s biggest investments, faced regulatory hurdles that threaten its business plan. Investors with the billionaire stock picker were told late last week that Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners Fund II had dropped 16.76 per cent in September while [...]
Crisis grows as FBI probe hits Olympus October 24, 2011 JUST when it looked like things could not get any worse for stricken camera-maker Olympus, its shares were rocked again by news the FBI will probe its controversial advisory payments. Its stock tumbled a further 11.5 per cent in trading yesterday to hit ¥1,099 – a 55 per cent fall in the space of just two [...]
