Top Morrisons investor says CD&R should up its bid to £6.5bn June 30, 2021 A top Morrisons shareholder said that New York bidder Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) must pay “a fair price” for the supermarket. One of Morrison’s top 10 investors J O Hambro has said that any potential bidder for the supermarket should raise its offer to £6.5bn if it wants the takeover to succeed. Shares in [...]
Taxpayers could lose billions through pandemic support schemes June 30, 2021 Taxpayers could lose tens of billions of pounds through support schemes set up to limit the impact of Covid-19, the committee that is responsible for overseeing government expenditure has warned in a report published today. A lack of scrutiny within Covid-19 loan schemes has “significantly increased” taxpayer exposure to fraud and error, the Public Accounts [...]
Confidence among London businesses reaches highest level for almost three years June 30, 2021 Confidence among businesses in London has reached its highest level for almost three years, according to new research published today. Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s latest Business Barometer shows business confidence in the capital rose 17 points to 41 per cent in June 2021 – the highest level since September 2018. London ranked second behind Scotland, [...]
Matt Hancock was stung by his own Covid sex bans but we should be wary of a world watching our every move June 30, 2021 Matt Hancock’s resignation over the weekend shows it just takes embarrassing photos to bring down a “hopeless” minister in Britain today. The real public interest story of Gina Coladangelo’s appointment last year was broken by The Times with barely a murmur. The people behind the cameras weren’t looking for corruption, they were looking for “kompromat.” And [...]
A truly Global Britain must slash bureaucracy to draw in international investment June 30, 2021 Not that long ago there was an assumption that globalisation was inevitable – writers from Fukayama to Friedman were anticipating the victory of liberal capitalism and a “flat world” in which capital, people and trade flowed freely, driven by the power of big business to knock down national barriers to their pan-national corporate interests. That [...]
Commit to 10 gigawatts of new nuclear by 2030 to hit climate plans, government warned June 30, 2021 The government has today been urged to make sure that the country has at least 10 gigawatts of operational nuclear capacity by the early 2030s as the current fleet of power plants begin to be shut down. In a new report, the cross-parliamentary group for nuclear power urged ministers to commit to new nuclear projects [...]
UK airlines lagging behind European rivals as travel restrictions continue June 29, 2021 The UK’s airlines have been the slowest in Europe to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, new figures released tonight show, as travel restrictions continue to hammer the sector. According to the all-parliamentary group on the future aviation, airline passenger numbers in the UK are down 89 per cent compared to 2019 levels, behind the continental [...]
EU opens competition probe into IAG’s purchase of Air Europa June 29, 2021 The European Commission has tonight opened an in-depth probe into BA owner IAG’s planned purchase of Spain’s Air Europa. The Commission, which oversees EU antitrust policy, said it had concerns that the proposed transaction would reduce competition for Spanish domestic routes and on international routes to and from Spain. The body said it had 90 [...]
Unexplained sneezing: Covid symptoms different for fully vaccinated June 29, 2021 Data from the world’s largest ongoing Covid study suggests Covid symptoms may be different for those fully vaccinated, with unexplained sneezing more likely to be an indicator. Research from the ZOE Covid symptom study app, a not-for-profit initiative led by King’s College London, suggests sneezing may be a more common sign of infection for those with [...]
UK’s debt risks soaring by over £100bn due to post-pandemic inflation June 29, 2021 The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today published its annual report today, suggesting that the UK’s post-pandemic debt could rise by over £100bn due to inflation. In its report, the Swiss-based bank set out its outlook for global recovery from the Covid pandemic. Its primary scenario was one of solid recovery but at uneven rates, [...]
