Let’s be honest, we’re still squandering post-Brexit opportunities for Britain December 15, 2022 Is Brexit a proven failure? Remainers latching onto the associated costs of leaving the customs bloc certainly think so. Some recent polls even indicate a majority for rejoining the European Union. Meanwhile, evidence of the benefits of taking back control appears scant. The government delivered a faster vaccine programme, signed trade deals and talked the [...]
Brexit: UK and EU eye Northern Ireland Protocol deal by February December 14, 2022 UK and EU officials are hoping to seal a deal on the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol by February, after more than a year of wrangling. Talks over a deal have intensified over the past month, after relations have thawed between London and Brussels during Rishi Sunak’s premiership. Bloomberg reports that foreign secretary James Cleverly and [...]
Khan calls for London to get bigger slice of Levelling Up cash from government December 14, 2022 Sadiq Khan has called on Rishi Sunak to give London more cash from the government’s signature Levelling Up fund to tackle “the capital’s own substantial inequalities”. The London mayor said the capital was missing out on hundreds of millions of pounds of government money post-Brexit. New figures from City Hall show London has received £76 [...]
Sir Richard Branson: No new investment in Brexit Britain December 13, 2022 Sir Richard Branson has ruled out investing new cash in the UK for the foreseeable future, claiming the economy has been hamstrung by trade barriers and “red tape” brought on by Brexit.
Octopus’ deal for Bulb could breach EU state aid rules, argues Centrica December 12, 2022 The sale of Bulb Energy to Octopus Energy could breach EU state aid rules in Northern Ireland, argued Centrica.
Microsoft becomes shareholder in the London Stock Exchange Group December 12, 2022 Microsoft snapped up a stake in the London Stock Exchange Group this morning, as big tech continues to disrupt the world of trading. As part of the deal, Microsoft will buy a four per cent stake in the exchange worth about £1.5bn from Blackstone, Thomson Reuters, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Singapore’s sovereign wealth [...]
Our secret services need to learn how to come out into the open to succeed December 12, 2022 We know very little about our intelligence agencies. Secrecy has long been the British way: Harold Macmillan summed the attitude up when, in 1963, he was asked in the House of Commons about Kim Philby’s defection to Moscow. The old actor-manager replied wearily, “It is dangerous and bad for our general national interest to discuss [...]
City minister says ‘world’s moved on’ from post-2008 financial services reforms December 11, 2022 City minister Andrew Griffith has said “the world’s moved on” since the 2008 global financial crisis in an attempt to calm concerns about the easing of the UK’s bank ring-fencing regime. Griffith told City A.M. that the regulation, which will be relaxed as a part of newly announced post-Brexit reforms, was acting as “an impediment” on some [...]
Sunak delays Northern Ireland Protocol Bill in bid to strike deal with EU December 11, 2022 Rishi Sunak is set to delay plans to unilaterally rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill as he tries to broker a deal with Brussels to fix the post-Brexit treaty. The Prime Minister has decided not to bring the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill back to the House of Lords this year, after UK-EU relations [...]
Big Bang 2.0: Financial institutions welcome Jeremy Hunt’s Edinburgh reforms December 10, 2022 Leading financial institutions have welcomed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Edinburgh reforms, which set out to “turbocharge” the UK’s growth. Announced yesterday, the plans aim to “seize the benefits of Brexit” by delivering the biggest shake-up in the financial sector for 30 years. According to UK Finance’s chief executive David Postings, the package is “a major step [...]