In such volatile times, the safest assets aren’t necessarily what investors think September 25, 2019 Given the climate of intense uncertainty, the FTSE index remains remarkably resilient. It currently sits almost bang in the middle of the 7,000-7,600 range, where it has been since the beginning of January 2017. Brexit does not seem to trouble share prices. Nor do the threats by John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, to carry out [...]
Corbyn rails against ‘unfit’ PM – but rules out pre-Halloween election September 24, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn has attacked Boris Johnson for being unfit to be Prime Minister – but ruled out holding a General Election while no deal Brexit remains a threat. Speaking just hours after a Supreme Court ruled Johnson’s prorogation “unlawful”, the Labour leader said his rival should resign, and said government “will be held to account [...]
Labour plots further £5bn investment in electric car industry September 24, 2019 Labour has pledged to spend £2bn on the construction of three electric car battery factories in parts of the country which have lost thousands of car industry jobs in the last year. The plan would see a Labour government plough the money into so-called gigafactories in south Wales, Stoke and Swindon, with each site employing [...]
TUI claims resilience following Thomas Cook collapse September 24, 2019 European travel group TUI has said that it had been assessing the impact of the collapse of rival Thomas Cook on its own operations. Responding to the collapse, the travel group stated that: “Where TUI customers are booked on Thomas Cook Airlines flights and these are no longer operated, replacement flights will be offered.” TUI [...]
Should Boris Johnson resign? Reaction to Supreme Court ruling September 24, 2019 Today the Supreme Court found that Boris Johnson had acted unlawfully in suspending parliament for five weeks ahead of the Brexit deadline. Saying the suspension took place in “unusual circumstances” , court president Lady Hale declared that “parliament has not been prorogued”, prompting speaker John Bercow to recall MPs to parliament for 11.30am tomorrow. Read [...]
Boris Johnson hits out at ‘people who want to frustrate Brexit’ September 24, 2019 The Prime Minister has hit back against the Supreme Court’s ruling that his prorogation of parliament was unlawful, saying the decision has not made getting a Brexit deal “any easier”. Speaking from New York, Boris Johnson said he “strongly disagreed” with the judgement that prorogation was unlawful – but stressed “this is a verdict that [...]
Supreme Court ruling: What does it mean and what happens now? September 24, 2019 The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament as unlawful – but what happens next? Is parliament back in business? Speaker John Bercow has said parliament will return from tomorrow morning. He emphatically said he was not recalling parliament, because the ruling was that prorogation had never happened. That means the [...]
Why as an investor I’m looking through Brexit fears September 24, 2019 Following the twists and turns in Westminster of the past few weeks I expect many more market participants will simply place UK equities in the “too difficult” basket. Anecdotal stories of overseas investors selling their last UK stocks could start doing the rounds again. Brexit and political uncertainty have been a drag on UK equities, [...]
Sterling rises as Supreme Court scuppers Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans September 24, 2019 Sterling has risen around half a cent against the dollar after the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to prorogue parliament was unlawful. GBP rose to $1.2487 after Lady Hale announced the 11 justices’ unanimous decision that “parliament is not prorogued”. Read more: Bercow recalls MPs as Supreme Court rules parliament suspension [...]
Housing market uncertainty persists as property transactions remain flat September 24, 2019 Property transactions in August edged down slightly year-on-year, but buyers and sellers showed some signs of resilience despite the current Brexit uncertainty. There were 99,890 residential deals in August 2019, falling 0.9 per cent from last year but rising 15.8 per cent compared with the previous month, according to new HMRC data published today. Signs [...]