Jeremy Corbyn defends Labour’s election record March 22, 2020 Jeremy Corbyn has defended his 2019 election campaign, saying he was “proud” of the party despite suffering its worst electoral defeat since 1935. Corbyn said his time in office “achieved a great deal” in changing the political agenda and addressing “injustices in Britain”. Labour won just 201 seats in December’s election, which was its worst [...]
GBP / EUR update March 20, 2020 As everywhere across the world, everything in the UK has been accelerating at pace and the pound has paid the price. Whilst not always at the bottom of the pile, sterling has been struggling and hit a 35-year low against the US dollar. Measures to address all aspects of the crisis were well-received by investors [...]
Coronavirus will ‘accelerate the digital revolution’, says ad mogul Martin Sorrell March 19, 2020 The outbreak of coronavirus will “accelerate the digital revolution” as businesses and consumers become increasingly reliant on technology, ad boss Sir Martin Sorrell has said. Sorrell, who runs ad fim S4 Capital, today said the “bottom line” of the crisis was that digital transformation would move at a much greater pace. “Businesses that were probably [...]
Manufacturing industry calls for tax deferment as part of coronavirus package March 19, 2020 The British manufacturing industry is calling for an immediate deferment of VAT, PAYE and National Insurance payments as part of a package of measures to tackle the impact of coronavirus. As the prospect looms of thousands of skilled employees being laid off, industry group Make UK has called on the government to delay taxes as [...]
Economists: Germany must act as it ‘speeds’ towards coronavirus recession March 19, 2020 Germany, the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB) must work together to take “massive and targeted” measures to prevent an economic collapse in the face of coronavirus, one of the country’s top think tanks has said. The Ifo Institute warned the German economy could shrink by a massive six per cent in 2020 [...]
EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tests positive for coronavirus March 19, 2020 The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said today he has tested positive for coronavirus. Barnier, a former French foreign affairs minister, has been the European Commission’s chief negotiator with the UK throughout the Brexit process. Today, Barnier tweeted that he had tested positive for novel coronavirus Covid-19. “I would like to inform you [...]
It’s time to self-isolate from social media’s armchair experts March 19, 2020 You can tell whether a news story is really, properly serious by the degree to which people develop instant expertise. Back in 2008, all sorts of people who didn’t know an asset from a debt suddenly started holding forth confidently about balance sheet liabilities and CDO-Squareds. A few years later, in the wake of the [...]
Pound crashes to 1980s lows amid coronavirus sell-off March 18, 2020 The British pound has suffered a historic plunge to its lowest level since 1985 as concerns mount about the economy amid the coronavirus outbreak and as investors flock towards the dollar. Sterling was last down four per cent against the dollar at $1.158, its lowest point since the economic turbulence of the 1980s and one [...]
Jude Bellingham transfer: The rules Manchester United and their competitors will have to negotiate to sign Birmingham’s star midfielder March 18, 2020 Like everything in sport right now, Jude Bellingham’s future is on hold. But the coronavirus pandemic has only delayed what now feels inevitable: that Birmingham City’s most prized asset will be flying the coop. Bellingham is just 16 and only made his professional debut in August, but his performances for Birmingham have set the scouting [...]
How are the banks battling coronavirus? March 18, 2020 As countries ramp up efforts to control the pandemic, the economic impact of Covid-19 is having an impact on currency values by creating a significant amount of market volatility. Typically when businesses are faced with large-scale uncertainty, the pound is volatile and the current situation with Covid-19 is adding pressure to currencies, including sterling. The [...]