How better competition policy can restore public trust in capitalism March 6, 2020 Competition policy is not something most people spend much time thinking about. It’s a dry, legalistic area of policy that even elected officials themselves have largely preferred to delegate to technocratic regulators. Yet competition policy is an integral part of the lifeblood of capitalism. At a time when trust in the market economy is under [...]
UK jobs market strengthens but IR35 looms March 6, 2020 UK companies took on permanent workers at a solid rate in February, survey data has shown, even as temporary billings fell ahead of upcoming IR35 legislation changes. The UK jobs market performed well in 2019 despite business investment and trade suffering under the weight of Brexit uncertainty. There were some signs it was beginning to [...]
Brexit trade talks: Michel Barnier cites ‘serious differences’ between EU and UK stances March 5, 2020 The EU’s chief negotiator has warned of “very serious divergence” between Britain and Brussels over the future relationship, following the first round of post-Brexit trade talks. Michel Barnier said he was confident a deal could be struck between the two sides, saying “an agreement is possible, even if it is difficult”. But he warned there [...]
UK incomes have stalled since 2016, but economists aren’t blaming Brexit March 5, 2020 Incomes have stalled and inequality has risen in the UK since 2016, official figures showed today, highlighting the size of the task the government faces in “levelling up” the country. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that growth in median income stalled between the 2016-17 financial year and 2018-19, growing on average 0.4 per [...]
Domino’s targets London expansion March 5, 2020 Pizza takeaway chain Domino’s this morning reported a drop in profit for 2019 as it revealed a strategy to target further growth in London. The figures UK and Ireland sales increased 4.8 per cent to £1.21bn in the 52 weeks ended 29 December. However like-for-like sales growth slipped to 3.7 per cent from 4.6 per [...]
The Democrats appear to learn the right lesson March 5, 2020 Last Friday evening, Bernie Sanders addressed an energetic, excitable crowd of nearly 5,000 in the Massachusetts city of Springfield, drumming up support ahead of the Super Tuesday round of Democrat primaries. Even more impressively, he then persuaded more than 13,000 supporters to turn out in freezing conditions to an outdoor rally in Boston Common last [...]
New Bank governor seems open to battle of ideas March 5, 2020 Andrew Bailey will take the governor’s seat at the Bank of England later this month amid a global health emergency that threatens to undermine the world economy and shape the Bank’s course of action for many months to come. So pressing is the issue that Bailey has effectively started work early, telling the Treasury Select [...]
Financial services should be at the heart of trade talks March 5, 2020 In my experience, financial services are rarely the focus of heated family discussions, or of so-called water cooler conversations with colleagues and friends. Instead, we tend to become passionate about individual politicians or teachers, healthcare or utility companies. This is entirely understandable given that those issues affect our everyday lives — or at least are [...]
Aggressive hiring by US law firms in London winning market share March 5, 2020 The aggressive hiring pursued by US law firms in London is winning them market share at the expense of their UK rivals, research published today said. US law firms operating in the UK averaged 5.8 per cent lawyer headcount growth last year, according to the report from Thomson Reuters and Acritas. Demand for American law [...]
Huawei is uniting Tory backbenchers – but can they win over Saj? March 4, 2020 What Brexit put asunder, Huawei appears to be joining. Yesterday morning, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith led a debate about the Chinese firm’s involvement in the UK’s 5G infrastructure. He was joined by plenty of Conservative MPs you might expect – fellow Leavers David Davis, Bob Seely and Owen Paterson – and plenty of [...]