Government leaking Covid economic policy erodes public trust, think tank warns April 23, 2021 Treasury’s leaking of Covid-19 recovery policies to some media outlets weeks in advance, while keeping tight lipped on important details, risks eroding public trust, a leading economic think tank has warned. A new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the current method has led to serious fiscal failures and [...]
Greensill: David Cameron made multiple attempts to lobby Bank of England April 22, 2021 David Cameron made multiple attempts to lobby Bank of England (BoE) officials over allowing collapsed financier Greensill access to the bank’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) scheme. Documents obtained by Freedom of Information request show that Cameron contacted officials five times in total over the “incredibly frustrating” issue. It is the latest saga in a [...]
Greensill’s parent company enters liquidation April 22, 2021 Greensill Capital’s Australian business, which collapsed last month with debts of A$4.9bn, has entered liquidation. Administrator Grant Thornton said creditors had voted by 23 to zero, with a handful of abstentions, to liquidate the parent company of the disgraced supply chain firm. “As of today, the company is now in liquidation,” Grant Thornton said. “The [...]
Bank of England plots closure of Leeds distribution centre April 22, 2021 The Bank of England is closing its cash distribution hub in Leeds but plans to open another centre in the North. The central bank said that the dwindling use of cash, alongside the new polymer notes, would slash demand for distribution. The bank said its Leeds centre is set to close when the lease expires [...]
Hand it over: David Cameron ordered to show lobbying text messages April 21, 2021 Former prime minister David Cameron has been given two weeks to pass on the details of his text messages in which he attempted to lobby the chancellor on behalf of failed finance firm Greensill. In a letter to Cameron, the chairman of the Treasury select committee urged the former prime minister to release details of [...]
Unemployment has stabilised but there will be economic pain ahead April 21, 2021 There are high levels of business optimism. Survey after survey has told us this, from reports from Deloitte on large companies to evidence from the Federation of Small Businesses. Consumer savings are at an all-time high. People are itching to get out and spend the money they have been forced to accumulate. All in all, [...]
Cabinet ministers back Tory push against Sunak for lower taxes post-Covid April 21, 2021 Some of Boris Johnson’s highest profile cabinet members are among 46 Tory MPs that today backed a new campaign group aiming to push Rishi Sunak to adopt a more low-tax agenda post-Covid. The Free Market Forum, run by the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, will look to “refocus the political debate” toward “free enterprise [...]
Downing Street cancels televised press briefings after spending £2.6m on new studio April 20, 2021 Boris Johnson has moved to cancel plans to start White House style televised press briefings, after spending £2.6m on a new studio in Number 9 Downing Street. The Times is reporting that Allegra Stratton, previously hired as press secretary to run the press conferences, would become the Prime Minister’s spokesperson for the COP26 climate conference. [...]
No, minister, really: the David Cameron lobbying scandal and the death of advice in Whitehall April 20, 2021 The revelations of potentially undue influence on ministers over the past couple of weeks have been a happy hunting ground for purveyors of hyperbole and clutchers of pearls. A story which began with David Cameron texting the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on behalf of a company which employed him has blossomed ferociously into a soup-to-nuts scandal [...]
Young people hit disproportionately by Covid jobs crisis April 20, 2021 Those aged under 35 disproportionately lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, as sectors like hospitality and retail were hit particularly hard by the crisis. In the year to March, nearly 635,000 under-35s saw payroll job losses in the UK, making up 80 per cent of the total payroll jobs lost during [...]