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 [...]
HSBC wins court fight as Euribor fine gets scrapped September 24, 2019 HSBC has won a £27.9m EU court fight over Euirbor rigging. Europe’s second highest court annulled the multi-million pound fine for “insufficient reasoning”, despite agreeing that HSBC had infringed the law. Read more: Metro Bank share price sinks The fine was slapped on HSBC by EU antitrust regulators in 2016 over rigging the Euribor financial [...]
Bercow: Commons will sit tomorrow, after ‘explicit’ Supreme Court judgement September 24, 2019 Speaker John Bercow has said the House of Commons will return tomorrow morning, following the Supreme Court’s “explicit” judgement today. Standing on College Green outside parliament, the outgoing speaker said he had “instructed the House authorities to prepare not for recall, because prorogation was unlawful and therefore void, but the resumption of business” As a [...]
Parliament prorogation: Who is the Supreme Court’s Lady Hale? September 24, 2019 This morning, Supreme Court president Lady Hale delivered a withering verdict on Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks, ruling that it was it was unlawful. “The effect on the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme,” she added. Hearing the case were 11 of the Supreme Court’s 12 Justices. It was Lady Hale [...]
Brexit: Bercow reconvenes MPs as Supreme Court rules PM’s prorogation unlawful September 24, 2019 Update: John Bercow has said parliament will resume business tomorrow morning The Supreme Court has ruled that Boris Johnson’s move to prorogue parliament for five weeks was unlawful. Supreme Court president Lady Hale told the court this morning that parliament had not been prorogued, leaving it to Speaker John Bercow to decide the next steps. [...]
Brexit: NCA finds ‘no evidence’ of criminal activity by Arron Banks or Leave.EU September 24, 2019 The National Crime Agency (NCA) has found “no evidence” that Leave.EU or its founder Arron Banks have committed criminal offences. The pro-Brexit campaign group was fined £70,000 by the Electoral Commission in May 2018, prompting the agency to launch a probe into the organisation. Read more: Met Police drop investigation into Arron Banks’ and Nigel [...]
US President Donald Trump mocks climate activist Greta Thunberg after UN speech September 24, 2019 US President Donald Trump this morning mocked climate activist Greta Thunberg after the teenager made an impassioned speech in front of the UN yesterday. Referring to a quote posted by Wired Magazine on Twitter, the President called the future that Thunberg was sketching out “wonderful”. Read more: London climate strikes: Thousands protest by capital’s landmarks [...]
Supreme Court set to deliver verdict on parliament prorogation September 24, 2019 The UK Supreme Court is set to decide if Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted illegally when he suspended parliament for five weeks before Brexit. An adverse ruling for the PM could disrupt his plans for a “do or die” Brexit on 31 October, when he has vowed to take the UK out of the EU [...]
Brexit stockpiling dents Card Factory profits September 24, 2019 Card Factory profits fell 14 per cent in the first six months of its financial year amid Brexit stockpiling despite like-for-like sales beating a negative high street. The figures Profit before tax dropped 14.4 per cent year on year to £24.3m for the six months to the end of July as Brexit stockpiling and the [...]
How could the oil attacks in Saudi Arabia affect investment? September 24, 2019 Things are heating up in the Middle East following the attack on an oil field in Saudi Arabia just over a week ago. The kingdom produces 10 per cent of the world’s oil, and while state-owned company Saudi Aramco, which owns the damaged plant, is drawing on its inventories to prevent export levels from falling, [...]