Number 10 calls Sadiq Khan’s cannabis review a ‘waste of time’ April 6, 2021 Downing Street has emphatically ruled out legalising cannabis anywhere in the UK, after Sadiq Khan launched a review into decrminialising the drug in London. Boris Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said the review was a “waste of time” and that “Sadiq Khan will know the policy on controlled drugs – it’s a matter for the [...]
Will ESG turn Bitcoin into a digital ‘stranded asset’ or monetary MySpace? (Part I) April 6, 2021 In this first instalment of a two-part piece, Ben Ashby, Derek Usher and Gerard Fox explain why environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors will undermine Bitcoin’s eye-catching rise, here focusing on the ‘E’. We have many economic reasons for believing that ‘first-generation’ crypto assets will fail to displace either ‘conventional’ money or traditional safe assets [...]
Rugby League World Cup chief Jon Dutton: We’re very optimistic that we’ll have full stadiums April 6, 2021 Organising a major international sporting event is a logistical labyrinth at the best of times. Doing so when your dining room has been your office for the past year, when you haven’t yet met most of your staff, and when it has been impossible to be certain how or even if the event will take [...]
Exclusive: Finance professionals want more flexible working week post-Covid April 6, 2021 People working in financial services want to see changes to their working week post-Covid, like flexible hours or choosing where to work from. More than half (54%) of financial services employees want their organisation to offer alternative working patterns such as flexible hours or the option of remote working, according to new research from Deloitte. [...]
Life in the City has been far from normal for over a year but hope is now on the horizon April 6, 2021 As we prepare for a brighter summer, the UK is entering a new recovery phase of the pandemic with our successful vaccination drive leading the way. The economy is being gradually unlocked as shops, outdoor hospitality and – mercifully for many – hairdressers in England join those preparing to reopen next week in line with [...]
Boris Johnson: Central London’s post-Covid recovery ‘may take a while’ April 5, 2021 Boris Johnson has said that central London’s economic recovery “may take a while” post-Covid as he today confirmed pubs and restaurants will reopen next Monday. Johnson said at today’s press conference that he thinks “the London economy is capable of bouncing back very strongly”, particularly “when we get the life going again in the artistic, [...]
Russia’s Sputnik news agency halts operations in Britain April 2, 2021 Russian news agency Sputnik will halt operations in Britain and move its English language service to Moscow and Washington, the media group that launched it in 2014 said on Friday, at a time when Russian-British relations have hit a low point. Rossiya Segodnya said the move was part of a plan to reorganize its international [...]
Silicon Roundabout: What will London’s tech hub look like after lockdown? April 1, 2021 The cluster of tech companies in East London, also known as Silicon Roundabout, was largely born out of the last financial crisis after soaring rents pushed companies out. This time round the fate of East London may look a little different as tech companies make remote working the norm. Remote working is here to stay [...]
Georgia was the post-Soviet beacon of hope for democracy but political turmoil could unravel it all April 1, 2021 Georgia, for so long a beacon of hope for democracy and the rule of law in the post-Soviet world, is now once more mired in a political crisis. It is a tragedy for Georgia, where polling by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) shows that the overwhelming majority of people want their country to be [...]
Top of the shops: Asos sales growth set to continue due to lockdown gains April 1, 2021 Asos is set to report a further jump in earnings and sales as continuing lockdown restrictions have kept consumers shopping online. Revenue is expected to jump 22 per cent to around £1.95bn when it updates shareholders on its trading performance for the half year to February. Earnings are also expected to surge 135 per cent [...]