Boris Johnson set to only warn Priti Patel over bullying claims November 19, 2020 Boris Johnson is reportedly preparing to censure Priti Patel over bullying civil servants, but will stop short of sacking the home secretary. An inquiry into Patel’s conduct toward civil servants in the Home Department was launched nine months ago after a series of complaints. Included among the complainants was the department’s top civil servant Philip [...]
Pfizer chief insists company did not delay vaccine results until after US election November 17, 2020 Pfizer’s chief executive has insisted the biotech company “didn’t conspire with anyone” to delay releasing its phase three trial results until after the US presidential election. Speaking at a New York Times conference today, Albert Bourla also said the company has already hit the required safety milestone for phase three trials of the vaccine and [...]
Mudge: Why has Twitter just hired a world-famous hacker? November 17, 2020 Twitter may have been awash with excitement about its new disappearing Fleets service, but behind the scenes there were other clandestine matters underway today. The social media platform said it had hired Mudge, one of the world’s best-regarded hackers, to the new position of head of security. The appointment comes at a crucial time for [...]
Swissport axes 3,000 jobs after ‘refusing’ to access furlough scheme November 17, 2020 Baggage handler Swissport is making 3,000 employees redundant after refusing to put them on furlough, according to a leading union. There was a wave of redundancies ahead of the 31 December deadline for the furlough scheme, which sees the government pay 80 per cent of employees’ wages. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak belatedly extended the scheme [...]
Homeserve boosts profit forecasts as lockdown buoys firm November 17, 2020 Homeserve said it would beat current full year profit expectations after a strong first half saw the home repairs firm increase its revenue by nearly a fifth. The FTSE 100 company posted £536.7m in turnover for the first six months of the year, up 17 per cent on last year’s take. It said that the [...]
ESG and fixed-income indices surge in 2020 November 17, 2020 “Market indices have seen constant evolution in more than a century of history, but never more so than in the last year.” On 3 July 1884, the world’s first stock index, the Dow Jones Transportation Index, was published by Charles Dow. And every year since then, market indices have evolved and grown in scale and [...]
Unused office space ‘to cost London firms £13bn’, survey shows November 16, 2020 The shift to homeworking, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, could cost London businesses almost £13bn in unused office space, according to the latest research. London office workers want to spend an average of 2.7 days per week back in the office once all coronavirus restrictions are lifted, as long as they have the resources to [...]
Anti-vaxxers may be barred from pubs and offices: Senior Tory MP November 16, 2020 People who refuse to take a Covid-19 vaccine may be barred from restaurants, pubs and offices, a senior Conservative MP has suggested. Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told HuffPost UK he could “certainly see the day” when people are refused entry into pubs and restaurants, [...]
Explainer: What are green bonds? And how will the UK’s first green gilts work? November 15, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday that Britain will issue its first green government bond next year, in a bid to capitalise on growing investor demand for assets that fund environmentally-friendly projects. The market for investments with an environment, social, or governance (ESG) focus has increased exponentially in recent years. Around $250bn (£189bn) of green bonds [...]
Cummings to leave Downing Street with immediate effect November 13, 2020 Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is leaving Downing Street immediately. Cummings will continue to work until mid-December, and another senior aide will serve as temporary chief of staff, Johnson’s office said on Friday. “The Prime Minister has today asked Sir Edward Lister to take on the role of chief of staff for an interim [...]