Pound devaluation: how the lessons of 1967 apply today November 23, 2017 The UK actively devalued its currency in 1967, but the 20 per cent fall in the pound since the Brexit vote continues a long-term trend of devaluation. Since the UK voted to leave the European Union on 23 June 2016 the pound has devalued sharply. It has fallen by as much as 21 per cent [...]
Treasury Committee chair Nicky Morgan warns financial service firms over gender pay gaps as Bank of England reveals a gender pay gap of 24 per cent November 23, 2017 The chair of the Treasury Select Committee has issued a warning to finance firms that they should be ready to explain their gender pay gaps, after the Bank of England today revealed its gap stood at 24.2 per cent. By April next year, all UK firms and public sector organisations with 250 or more employees [...]
6 key Budget 2017 takeaways November 23, 2017 Work in progress and still some way to go – that was my immediate take on the Budget. The good news was that the Chancellor recognised the need to position the UK for the great opportunities and significant challenges ahead. Despite this, far more needs to be done. First, the Chancellor and The Treasury are [...]
Autumn Budget: Philip Hammond glosses over gloomy growth November 23, 2017 There’s a wonderful clip doing the rounds of Australian MP Bob Katter answering a question on the country’s new equal marriage law. He’s all in favour of it – “let a thousand blossoms bloom,” he grins and chuckles, before his facial expression changes into one of fury as he quickly adds “but I ain’t spending [...]
Autumn Budget 2017 at-a-glance guide: All the announcements by chancellor Philip Hammond you need to know November 22, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has unveiled the Autumn Budget, saying the UK must “seize the opportunities” for Britain and promised to invest “to secure a bright future”. Now we’ve heard plenty about what was expected from today, from a concerted focus on housing, to a regulatory revamp for driverless cars and a slew of tech spending. [...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech in full November 22, 2017 You can read the chancellor's Budget speech in full here: Mr Deputy Speaker I report today on an economy that continues to grow, continues to create more jobs than ever before and continues to confound those who seek to talk it down. An economy set on a path to a new relationship with our European [...]
Activist investor warns London Stock Exchange against “character assassination” of outgoing boss Xavier Rolet November 21, 2017 Activist investor Sir Chris Hohn today lashed out at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group, saying that its board appears to be threatening a “character assassination” of its outgoing chief executive Xavier Rolet. In the latest twist in the LSE soap opera over the alleged forced retirement of Rolet, Hohn called for the Bank of [...]
Chinese banks march up rankings of world’s most important banks as Citi and BNP Paribas drop November 21, 2017 Chinese banks have jumped up international regulators’ rankings of the banks which are most crucial to the global financial system as Citigroup and BNP Paribas fell down the list. Both Bank of China and China Construction Bank rose into the second “bucket” on a list of the global systemically important banks published today by the [...]
Thoughts ahead of the Budget November 20, 2017 This coming week is the second Budget of the year, the first of the new Parliament and the penultimate one before the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. The UK may prolong its tenure in the EU through a yet-to-be-agreed transition deal, but even so we are just over half-way through the Article 50 [...]
Titans of history: Lessons from the entrepreneurs who built Britain November 15, 2017 The history of the modern world is bound up with that of Britain. There are many theories of how and why we spawned the Industrial Revolution and had such an impact on international affairs, but none is complete without accounting for the British people, and the entrepreneurs who built Britain and changed the world. In [...]