From stamp duty to the triple lock, Andy Haldane says bold Burnham leadership can usher ‘vibe change’ for UK economy
Wall Street lifted by Covid-era low jobless claims August 5, 2021 US stocks opened up sharply on Thursday morning after investors were boosted by fresh data showing the American labour market recovery still has legs. The blue-chip S&P 500 gained 0.43 per cent to reach 4,421, while the Dow Jones shot up 0.6 per cent to 34,998. The tech-heavy Nasdaq notched the best performance out the [...]
US jobless claims continue to shrink as layoffs fall to lowest level in 21 years August 5, 2021 The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits fell again last week as the labour market continued its slow recovery from the pandemic. According to the US Labor Department’s latest report, 385,000 filed for benefits last week, down 14,000 on the previous week. The latest total perfectly tallied with economists’ forecasts, but remains far above pre-pandemic [...]
Dominic Cummings claims Boris Johnson offered him peerage August 5, 2021 Dominic Cummings has claimed that Boris Johnson offered him a seat in the House of Lords as he was leaving Downing Street last year. Cummings said the Prime Minister “almost immediately started laughing” after he made the offer and that the Prime Minister “realised that that was not exactly the sort of thing that would [...]
Venezuela to shave six zeroes off its inflation battered currency August 5, 2021 The Venezuelan central bank will shave six zeroes off the country’s currency, the bolivar, to make transactions less complicated, it said on Thursday. The change will come into force on 1 October with the distribution of new currency notes. “All monetary amounts expressed in national currency will be divided by one million,” the central bank [...]
Law firms brace as chancellor mulls over new tax on legal sector August 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak may be considering imposing a tax levy on the revenues of large commercial law firms, to help to prop up the ailing legal aid system, according to reports. The chancellor may be contemplating reviving the idea of a bespoke levy on commercial legal practices, an idea first suggested five years ago by then [...]
Stillwater – Amanda Knox-inspired drama is slow but solid August 5, 2021 Whoever said “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” clearly didn’t work on publicity for Stillwater, as this week’s drama comes to the screen with a lot of baggage. The film is very loosely inspired by the trial of Amanda Knox, who posted tweets denouncing the film. As if that wasn’t enough, star Matt Damon [...]
Afternoon tea in style: A short guide August 5, 2021 For the British, “tea” is an absurdly complex word. It is laden with meaning and nuance, and how you deploy it will, in certain circles, say more about you than you might like. Most obviously, it is, supposedly, our national drink. I can’t abide tea at any price, but steeped leaves from China, India and [...]
Belarusian Olympic sprinter defects to Poland after warning from Grandmother August 5, 2021 Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who decided to defect to Poland instead of returning to her home country, did so because her grandmother warned her not to go home. Tsimanouskaya, 24, has said her family were worried she would be sent to a psychiatric hospital upon her arrival in Belarus. “I have always been far [...]
Firefighter wins claim against Fire Brigades Union after suspension for pro-Brexit speech August 5, 2021 A firefighter who sued the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) for unfair dismissal over a pro-Brexit speech has announced he has won his claim. Former FBU executive council member Paul Embery was suspended from his post for giving a speech at a Leave Means Leave rally in March 2019 in London. Embery, now a columnist at [...]
‘True David and Goliath battle’: Oatly loses UK trademark dispute to Glebe farm August 5, 2021 British oat milk producer Glebe Farm has today won a trademark infringement case brought against it by celebrity-backed oat drink giant Oatly. Glebe Farm was accused by Oatly, which boasts Oprah Winfrey as one of its investors, of trademark infringement and passing off, after the family-run business used the brand PureOaty on their gluten-free oat [...]
