Boris Johnson may face defeat as MPs try to stop trade deals with genocidal regimes March 21, 2021 More Tory MPs have come out to support an amendment to a trade bill that would make it harder for the government to sign trade deals with countries that have committed genocide. Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has now backed the amendment, which would force ministers to justify any trade deal that is signed with [...]
Grant Thornton caught up in conflict of interest accusations over Greensill Capital appointment March 21, 2021 Grant Thornton is facing accusations of a conflict of interest connected to its role as administrator of Greensill Capital, after it emerged the auditor had previously advised the firm’s biggest debtor Sanjeev Gupta on a string of deals. Grant Thornton was appointed as Greensill’s administrator on Monday after the finance firm collapsed when Credit Suisse [...]
Tory MPs to rebel over plans to extend Covid powers until September March 21, 2021 The government has come under fire from Tory MPs for unveiling plans to extend emergency Covid enforcement powers in England for another six months. Legislation will be brought to the House of Commons by Boris Johnson on Thursday to extend police powers to ban protests, shut down ports and detain citizens for not following Covid [...]
Bitcoin takes a dip as Ripple creates waves March 21, 2021 Bitcoin’s express train to $60,000 came off the rails today as the week’s repeated stab at an all-time-high ran out of steam.
London Capital & Finance savers left in the dark about compensation after losing millions March 21, 2021 Savers who lost millions of pounds when mini-bond investment firm London Capital & Finance (LCF) fell into administration in 2019 are facing a longer wait for compensation after the City minister refused to confirm when the aid scheme will launch. LCF collapsed in January 2019, impacting over 11,000 people who invested around £237m in the [...]
The greatest space mission will be tackling climate change and protecting our planet March 21, 2021 Efforts around the world are focused on making businesses more sustainable, with ever greater emphasis on innovative technology to help solve the climate crisis we face. There was a dearth of climate-related announcements in Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech earlier this month. Sunak did, however, reiterate the Government’s plan to establish the UK as a “science [...]
UK warns EU that ‘world is watching’ as Brussels continues to threaten to ban vaccine exports March 21, 2021 The UK has today warned Brussels that banning vaccine exports would be “very damaging” for the EU’s reputation, with defence secretary Ben Wallace telling the bloc that the “world is watching”. Wallace said today that the EU’s threats to block Pfizer vaccine shipments to Britain, which was inflamed political tensions, could “undermine” vaccine supplies across [...]
Multi-million fund looks to boost life chances for homeless women March 21, 2021 A multi-million pound investment fund has launched in London aiming to build a host of properties for at-risk women. The fund, led by property investor Patron Capital and social impact firm Resonance, will purchase properties across the UK and lease them to women’s sector organisations and charities. The fund has already raised £15.5m and unlike [...]
Valuation of Fortnite creator Epic Games soars to $28bn after lockdown demand March 20, 2021 The owner of two big pandemic winners, Fortnite and Houseparty, has reportedly closed a new fundraising round which brings its valuation to around $28bn. Epic Games is finalising the terms of a $1bn fundraising just seven months after its last round, according to Sky News. Last summer the Houseparty-owner secured a $17.3bn valuation after a [...]
London needs a transport shake-up, with cheaper rail prices, e-scooters and new funding systems for TfL March 20, 2021 One year into the pandemic and London is on the brink of a transport revolution. For many the only obvious step change has been a retrograde one. Londoners continue to avoid public transport with almost the same zeal with which we once crammed ourselves onto tube carriages. Driving cars, while not quite back in vogue [...]