UK house prices rebound sharply after stamp duty cut July 31, 2020 UK house prices unexpectedly bounced back in July after tumbling in June, as pent-up lockdown demand was released and the stamp duty cut cheered buyers and sellers. Building society nationwide said British prices jumped 1.7 per cent in July compared to a month earlier, when they fell 1.6 per cent. Analysts had been expecting a [...]
Bank customers may need longer-term crisis support, says FCA July 31, 2020 The City watchdog has said Britain’s lenders may need to consider introducing “sustainable forbearance” for customers who will struggle with loan repayments after coronavirus relief measures end in the autumn. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a “call for input” to determine what measures may be needed once repayment holidays introduced during the pandemic [...]
Lockdown in north-west England: What are the new rules? July 31, 2020 Last night health secretary Matt Hancock announced via Twitter that millions of people in northern England would be subject to new restrictions after an increase in coronavirus cases. The new rules, which met with criticism over how they were announced, apply to people in Greater Manchester, east Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire. The measures [...]
Natwest sinks to a loss as it sets aside £2.9bn for bad loans July 31, 2020 Natwest sunk to a pre-tax loss of £770m in the first half of the year as it set aside billions of pounds in anticipation of loans turning sour due to the coronavirus pandemic. The banking group – known as RBS until earlier this month – took a hit of £2.86bn in the first half to [...]
Exclusive: Top Tory MP says Russia ‘taken hostage by mafia gang’ July 31, 2020 Tom Tugendhat MP, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, has said the Russian state has been “taken hostage by a mafia gang”. The country is a “shell of its former self”, the MP for Tonbrige and Malling told City A.M’s The City View podcast. His comments came after a top UK security committee [...]
French health minister says local authorities can make masks compulsory outside July 31, 2020 France’s health minister has said that local authorities will be able to enforce the wearing of face masks in outdoor areas to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Writing on Twitter, Olivier Veran said that the decision could be made “depending on the situation of the epidemic in each region”. Face masks are already compulsory in [...]
Eurozone economy shrinks by record 12 per cent as pandemic bites July 31, 2020 The Eurozone economy contracted by a record 12.1 per cent in the second quarter of the year as coronavirus lockdowns caused business activity to shudder to a halt and consumer spending to dry up. It followed a 3.6 per cent contraction in the first quarter, confirming that the single-currency area is in by far the [...]
DEBATE: With Alistair Darling standing down from the House of Lords, is it time to consider term limits for peers? July 31, 2020 With Alistair Darling standing down from the House of Lords, is it time to consider term limits for peers? John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says YES. The House of Lords needs to be reformed. It is too big, too opaque, and too expensive. With Alistair Darling deciding to stand down from the [...]
Pay no attention to the EU negotiator behind the curtain July 31, 2020 In the film the Wizard of Oz, the heroine, on finally arriving in the presence of the unseen Wizard, hears his booming voice telling her to go away and come back another time. When her dog Toto pulls back the curtain in the grand room to reveal a small, old man operating the levers of [...]
Pandemic research protects Yougov from coronavirus slump July 31, 2020 Research data group Yougov said it has been “very resilient” to the coronavirus crisis, as a drop off in normal business was offset by a spike in pandemic-related analysis. Yougov said this morning it is “yet to see any material impact of Covid-19 on its business”. “While the Group has been very resilient and is [...]
