‘Is that it?’: Gove unable to say how Brexit ‘made business easier’ when asked six times on R4 November 24, 2022 Principal Brexiteer michael Gove was unable to name a ‘single benefit’ of Brexit, as business leaders warn of continued economic strain. The levelling up secretary appeared to falter while speaking on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, asked no less than six times how firms would benefit from the UK’s departure from the EU. This [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Housing is the new Europe in the Conservative Party November 24, 2022 It was ardent Brexiteers who rumbled up enough angst to secure a referendum. But will pro-housing Conservatives have enough heft to stare down the Tory big wigs rebelling against housebuilding targets and planning reforms? Priti Patel, the former Home Sec, Damien Green, former deputy PM to Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith, the ex-Tory leader, are [...]
UK frees up £4bn in export finance to boost post-Brexit trade with Morocco November 24, 2022 Britain has made £4bn available in export finance to boost post-Brexit trade with Morocco. The funding will be available for Moroccan buyers as long as 20 per cent of content is from UK firms, it has been announced. This comes as the UK looks for trading opportunities around the world after leaving the European Union, [...]
It could be said the EU was never going to offer Britain a Switzerland-style deal November 24, 2022 It is often said that Britain is a nation divided by our relationship with Europe, but British people are in fact united in their disinterest as to how the European Union works. To most it will always come across as a byzantine mixture of commissions, councils, and competencies presided over by a rather grey cadre [...]
Sunak backs down against BoE and ditches call-in power over City regulators November 23, 2022 The government has tonight confirmed it will scrap controversial plans to allow MPs to overrule City regulators as part of a post-Brexit Big Bang 2.0 blueprint. The decision to ditch the plans marked a victory for the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have both previously warned that introducing the so-called [...]
UK healthcare: three changes I’d be thankful for November 23, 2022 The festive season here in the UK has not quite begun, but within American businesses like ours it’s traditional at this time of year for people to reflect and celebrate Thanksgiving Day to give thanks for our health and happiness, for our friends and family. Like many people across the UK, one thing I’m incredibly [...]
Badenoch to host trade forum with South African President Ramaphosa November 23, 2022 Kemi Badenoch will host a roundtable forum with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa today, with the trade secretary looking to boost exports to the continent. Badenoch said this morning that a “UK-South Africa Investment Taskforce” was looking to break down trade barriers with the Commonwealth nation, however there are no current plans to extend the trade deal [...]
Profit and success are not dirty words for the Labour party – and neither is Brexit November 23, 2022 Making Labour a pro-business party was a matter of conviction to me. You can’t be the party of working people without being the party of jobs. And you can’t be the party of jobs without being the party of business. Profit, success, enterprise – those aren’t dirty words in the Labour Party. They’re what drives [...]
Starmer: Labour has no interest in a Swiss-style Brexit deal November 22, 2022 A future Labour government would not pursue a “Swiss-style” Brexit arrangement to bring the UK closer to the EU, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The opposition leader, writing in City A.M., said a new Brexit deal to increase regulatory alignment with Brussels will “not be the fix some imagine”. The government has been forced this [...]
UK fintech ‘can’t assume talent will continue to flow from abroad’, warns sector chief November 22, 2022 The UK’s fintech industry cannot “rest on its laurels” and presume that a stream of talent will continue to flow in from overseas, the incoming chief of a government-backed fintech body has warned.