‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
HSBC exec ‘protected’ from alleged sex assault claim through Chinese Communist Party membership January 24, 2021 A parliamentary committee is investigating allegations that an HSBC executive was protected from sexual assault claims by being a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The explosive claims are reportedly contained in a dossier that is being compiled for a Foreign Affairs Committee report into HSBC’s role in Beijing’s freedom of speech crackdown in [...]
Rishi Sunak to give Universal Credit claimants a one-off £1,000 payment January 24, 2021 Rishi Sunak is considering doubling a one-off payment to Universal Credit claimants to £1,000 to compensate for a planned cut in the current Covid welfare rate. The move would help quell a potential Tory rebellion over plans to remove the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift introduced last year. Scrapping the uplift would cost claimants around £1,000 [...]
TfL needs government support for next two years to stay afloat, says boss January 24, 2021 Transport for London (TfL) will need government financial support for the next two years to stay solvent, according to body’s commissioner. Andy Byford said today that “without government support, and with the chaos that Covid and the decimation on our finances that Covid has wrought, we absolutely will be needing financial support in the short [...]
Matt Hancock: ‘Long, long way’ until England Covid lockdown is eased January 24, 2021 Health secretary Matt Hancock has warned today that there is still a “long, long, way” until England’s current Covid lockdown is eased. Hancock said today that “early evidence” indicated Covid cases were dropping thanks to the tough restrictions, while also adding that “we don’t know the answer” to how long the lockdown will last. He [...]
UK appoints new ambassador to the EU January 22, 2021 The UK’s foreign office has appointed lifelong civil servant Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby as the country’s new ambassador to the EU. Croisdale-Appleby will take over the role, after former holder Sir Tim Barrow was shifted to a different civil service job. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “As we begin a new chapter in our relationship with the [...]
Excl: Hong Kong activist Nathan Law slams firms ‘colluding’ with Beijing January 21, 2021 Western firms operating in China and Hong Kong are “compromising their integrity,” one of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activists has told City A.M. Nathan Law, one of the leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests in the territory and now in exile in London, warned that “Beijing manipulates its economic power to conduct and expand [...]
Rishi Sunak set to extend furlough scheme past April January 21, 2021 Rishi Sunak is reportedly set to extend the government’s furlough scheme beyond the end of April in his 3 March Budget. The chancellor is drawing up plans to extend the £82bn scheme into the summer as the UK looks set to have strict Covid restrictions in place for several months. The scheme, which sees the [...]
MPs accuse Financial Conduct Authority of being ‘unfit for purpose’ after British Steel pension debacle January 21, 2021 MPs accuse Financial Conduct Authority of being 'unfit for purpose' after British Steel pension debacle
City of London Corporation to remove controversial slavery-era statues January 21, 2021 The City of London’s local authority has today voted to remove statues of a slave trader and a slave owner from its Guildhall HQ. The City of London Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee, its most influential body, voted to remove the statues of Sir John Cass and William Beckford in an attempt to distance itself [...]
UK fish exporters to get up to £100,000 each for Brexit disruption January 21, 2021 Britain’s fish and seafood exporters who have faced post-Brexit disruption at the border will be able to claim a maximum of £100,000 per business as a part of a new £23m fund. James Quinault – one of the top civil servants at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – told a parliament [...]
