Downing Street to publish draft FTA before second round of trade talks March 9, 2020 Downing Street is planning to publish draft legal texts including a free trade agreement ahead of the second round of trade talks with the EU, government revealed today. Boris Johnson’s sherpa David Frost met with his counterpart Michel Barnier last week for the first round of talks, with both sides agreeing there were significant differences, [...]
UK must ‘think about trade-offs’ in post-Brexit trade talks, says Commission boss March 9, 2020 The UK must “make up its mind” about which trade-offs it is willing to accept when it comes to striking a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen has warned. The first round of talks, which took place in Brussels, ended last week with negotiators acknowledging there were serious gaps [...]
Oil prices: FTSE energy stocks tumble after Opec coronavirus chaos March 9, 2020 FTSE 100-listed energy stocks have crumbled in early trading after Saudi Arabia initiated a price war that saw oil prices collapse today. Shell’s share price plummeted 21 per cent before trimming losses to stand down 14.8 per cent by 9.50am, while BP’s tumbled 17.3 per cent to 326.9p. Petrofac fell over 50 per cent to [...]
Oil prices and Asian stocks collapse under coronavirus fears March 9, 2020 Oil prices and stocks collapsed today as investors piled into safe havens in a bid to escape the fallout of a fresh spread of coronavirus. Oil prices plunged around 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia signalled its intention to ramp up production. And investors knocked 30-year US bond yields below one per cent as they [...]
Sadiq Khan’s real opponent in the London mayoral election is Boris Johnson March 9, 2020 Just days into the formal mayoral election campaign and Sadiq Khan has already shown why he is arguably Labour’s most successful politician since Tony Blair. The mayor of London launched his re-election campaign last week by labelling the contest as a “referendum on rent control”, demanding central government grants him the power to cap rents [...]
London economy’s post-election bounce continues March 9, 2020 London’s private sector grew strongly in February, survey data has shown, even as the coronavirus outbreak took its toll on tourism. The Natwest/IHS Markit London purchasing managers’ index posted 56 in February, down slightly from 56.5 in January but stronger than the long-run average. A score of above 50 indicates that the private sector expanded. [...]
UK small businesses gloomy about coronavirus and Brexit March 9, 2020 Worries over the impact of Brexit and coronavirus mean more than 70 per cent of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses do not expect the country’s economy to grow during the rest of 2020, according to new survey data. The pessimism about growth means firms 57 per cent of firms are unlikely to invest in [...]
Jaguar Land Rover boss says Greta Thunberg’s criticism ‘not justified’ March 8, 2020 The boss of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has hit out at Greta Thunberg, saying that climate activists like the Swedish teenager and Extinction Rebellion make “no contribution” and have “no ideas”. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Ralf Speth, JLR’s outgoing boss, described Thunberg’s campaigning as “doing wrong in many areas” by raising issues but not [...]
Budget 2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap ‘tampon tax’ March 6, 2020 The so-called tampon tax is set to be abolished in next week’s Budget. A zero rate of VAT will apply to women’s sanitary products from the start of next year. The UK has been obliged to pay the EU VAT Directive since 1973 and the tampon tax is currently five per cent. MPs voted against [...]
Meet the influential women building the future of Britain March 6, 2020 With International Women’s Day on the horizon, we celebrate some of the UK’s most influential women, and how their contributions are shaping the future of the nation. It’s been over a month since the UK entered the transitional period between leaving the EU and confirming a final deal with Europe. Although the pound has remained [...]