Clive Bannister set to take over as CMA chair after two-year hunt May 12, 2022 The UK’s competition watchdog is set to appoint former Phoenix Group and HSBC executive Clive Bannister as its chair after a two year hunt, according to reports. Bannister will takeover as chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Andrew Tyrie, the former chair, was ousted in 2020 in a boardroom coup, the Financial [...]
D-Day for Brexit deal as UK and EU hold crunch talks after Boris Johnson calls Northern Ireland discussion ‘crazy’ May 12, 2022 As ministers consider whether to override parts of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will hold crunch talks with the vice president of the European Commission in the coming hours. Attorney General Suella Braverman is said to have approved the scrapping of swathes of the agreement, giving Boris Johnson legal cover [...]
Give visa flexibilty on short-term work stays, City lobby group demands May 12, 2022 DELAYS to visa approvals are holding back the capital, Britain’s top financial services lobby group warned yesterday. TheCityUK said that short-term visas that allow overseas workers to undertake short-term projects in London were facing delays of as long as 12 weeks to receive approval. The body said that post-Brexit rules had made the system more [...]
Britain warned threats from UK govt to blow up Brexit protocol ‘have gone down really badly’ with EU May 11, 2022 The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney, said this afternoon that threats from the UK Government to override elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol “have gone down really badly” with the EU. Speaking during a visit to Belfast, where he is meeting political leaders, Coveney said: “We don’t believe that the way forward in terms [...]
Biden urges Johnson to show ‘courage, co-operation and leadership’ over plan to ‘give up’ on N. Ireland Protocol May 11, 2022 US President Joe Biden has waded into the row over Britain ‘giving up’ on talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol, calling for leadership and negotiations. Earlier this week it was reported that the British government will move to discard large portions of the Northern Ireland Protocol after giving up on Brexit negotiations with the EU. [...]
Letters: Insurance is paying a price May 11, 2022 [Re: Hiscox sets aside £32m to weather impact of war in Ukraine, May 5] What’s happened with insurer Hiscox is just another example of how the insurance industry is now entering the most prolonged hard market in living memory. After the financial and reputational losses sustained during the pandemic, we are now deep into a [...]
Irritated EU watches in disbelief as UK’s Brexit language hardens with Truss calling Brussels ideas ‘backwards’ May 11, 2022 Foreign Secretary Lizz Truss said some proposals put forward by the European Union during months of discussions on the post-Brexit treaty would “take us backwards” as she argued against introducing “more checks, paperwork and disruption”. Truss warned the UK “will not shy away” from taking action on the Northern Ireland Protocol after the Prime Minister [...]
UK has ‘given up’ on Brexit talks and plans to kill off Northern Ireland Protocol next week as trade war with EU looms May 11, 2022 The government will reportedly move to discard large portions of the Northern Ireland Protocol after giving up on Brexit negotiations with the EU. The Times newspaper reported officials working for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have drawn up draft legislation to unilaterally remove the need for checks on all goods being sent from Britain for use [...]
The Queen’s Speech failed to turn our financial regulators into a public asset May 11, 2022 The most important segment of yesterday’s Queen’s Speech was the landmark Financial Services Bill. This piece of legislation was a major test for the government’s vision of a net-zero aligned financial system that drives sustainable economic growth across the UK and acts in the interest of all people and communities. Regrettably, it didn’t pass the [...]
Tech giants need to crack down on racist abuse online, says Sadiq Khan May 10, 2022 Sadiq Khan said tech giants need to ‘act sensibly’ and not wait for governments to bring in regulations