FCA chief: City firms should get ready for a ‘different relationship’ with us January 28, 2025 City firms should expect a “different relationship” with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and fewer “detailed rules”, as the watchdog rows in behind the government’s drive for growth, its chief executive Nikhil Rathi has said. In an interview with the Following the Rules podcast, the FCA boss warned the regulator was being forced to “rigorously” prioritise its [...]
Tories push for school smartphone ban to be added to education bill January 25, 2025 The Tories will push for a ban on smartphones in schools to be included in the Government’s education Bill. The Conservatives are tabling an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to end the use of mobile phones and other devices during school days by pupils. It is understood that the Labour government has [...]
Football regulator: Fight over Brady-backed ‘sunset clause’ hots up January 13, 2025 Conservative peers including West Ham United chair Karren Brady are this week expected to step up their push for a “sunset clause” that critics fear will render the incoming independent football regulator toothless. The sunset clause would allow for the football regulator to be scrapped after a set period time, likely to be five years, [...]
We need a government that gets business, not businessmen running government January 13, 2025 The idea that business leaders can transform the way government works didn’t start with Elon musk, but success in politics demands different skills to entrepreneurship, says Eliot Wilson Business feels let down by the current government. Before the general election, Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, staged an updated performance of the [...]
New car market in UK up 2.6 per cent in 2024, figures reveal January 4, 2025 The UK’s new car market recorded its second successive year of growth with a 2.6 per cent rise in registrations in 2024, new figures show. Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said around 1,953,000 new cars were registered last year, compared with 1,903,000 in 2023. Growth was delivered entirely by purchases [...]
Five predictions for British politics in 2025 January 1, 2025 Eliot Wilson looks into his crystal ball to predict five things that will happen in the coming year There is an old Danish proverb, often misattributed to the New York Yankees’ legendary catcher Yogi Berra, that it is hard to make predictions, especially about the future. In politics, it can be high risk and high [...]
Downing Street rejects Elon Musk’s claim firms are turning away from UK December 30, 2024 Downing Street insisted Sir Keir Starmer was running an “unashamedly” pro-growth government after Elon Musk lashed out at his policies. Tesla boss Mr Musk said “very few companies” would be willing to put money into the UK under “the current administration”. Mr Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, was responding to calls [...]
Badenoch urged to apologise or face ‘action’ from Farage over Reform row December 28, 2024 Nigel Farage has urged Kemi Badenoch to apologise or face “action” after she accused Reform UK of “fakery” over its membership numbers. The Reform UK leader will spend the weekend weighing up what action to take if the Conservative leader ignores his calls for an apology over the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Farage pushed back against [...]
Badenoch accuses Farage of ‘fakery’ over Reform membership figures December 27, 2024 Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigel Farage of “fakery” over Reform UK membership numbers, after his party claimed they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”, but Mr Farage said he would “gladly invite” a firm to “audit our membership numbers” as long [...]
Chris Hohn: Hedge fund boss’s pay slumps to just £42m December 23, 2024 Hedge fund boss Chris Hohn took a £233m pay cut this year, as his fund paid out around £340m in charitable donations. The head of TCI Fund Management, Hohn took home $53m (£42m), down from the $346m (£276m) he collected in 2023, Companies House filings have revealed. TCI, which previously employed former prime minister Rishi [...]