Philip Hammond starts search for successor to Mark Carney as Bank of England governor April 24, 2019 Chancellor Philip Hammond has started the process of finding a new governor of the Bank of England. Whoever he chooses will replace current governor Mark Carney when he steps down at the start of 2020. Read more: Mark Carney warns of "alarmingly high" no-deal Brexit risk The Canadian economist, the first overseas governor of the [...]
Government provides £200m for small firms as Brexit threatens EU funding April 17, 2019 The UK government has handed over £200m to help support smaller businesses in the 2019-20 financial year as the future of European Union funding remains uncertain. Read more: No-deal planning programme extended due to later Brexit date The Treasury announced today that it has made the cash available to the British Business Bank, which provides [...]
Monetary policy is too crucial to leave in Labour’s meddling hands April 16, 2019 Even by Donald Trump’s standards, it was an extremely Donald Trump thing to do. Last week, the President nominated Herman Cain for a seat on the board of the Federal Reserve, attempting to hand oversight of the world’s largest economy to a maverick gold-standard enthusiast. The nomination appears to be doomed, largely because of the [...]
UK stats body to receive £9m to develop ‘super fast’ economic indicators April 12, 2019 The UK’s statistics body will receive a funding boost of £9m to help develop new “super fast” economic indicators to help it more accurately measure Britain’s increasingly complex economy. Read more: UK statistics body to start using new, quicker indicators The money will also allow the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to implement a new [...]
Could Jacob Rees-Mogg soon be off to 11 Downing Street? April 12, 2019 The Conservative party has a shortage of the political equivalent of rock stars. These are the politicians that the public would not merely recognise (already a rather an elite cohort), but actually might cross the road to ask for an autograph – or, more usually these days, a selfie. Boris Johnson has this star quality, of course. [...]
Theresa May told to resign over ‘abject surrender’ of Halloween Brexit delay April 11, 2019 Theresa May was accused of an “abject surrender” and told to resign by a furious veteran Conservative MP today after she agreed to another delay to Brexit. Read more: May vows to seek 'orderly' Brexit after Halloween extension Sir Bill Cash, one of parliament’s most long-standing anti-EU MPs, urged the PM to quit as she [...]
Facebook and the tech giants are welcoming government regulation – that’s a panic signal for all of us April 9, 2019 Last year, I met someone who had previously worked for a big tech firm in its “free speech” unit. What had happened to make him come and slum it among us mortals in the (badly paid) policy world? Answer: the unit had been shut down. It’s in this context that you should see the milquetoast [...]
Cross-party Brexit talks abandoned until after EU summit, Downing Street confirm April 9, 2019 The Conservatives and Labour have abandon Brexit talks until Thursday after failing to reach an agreement, just a day before Theresa May asks the EU for another delay to the UK’s withdrawal. Leading MPs from both parties held talks for four hours on Tuesday in an attempt to find a compromise plan which could win [...]
Philip Hammond accuses businesses of burying their heads in the sand over no-deal Brexit April 9, 2019 Chancellor Philip Hammond has accused businesses of burying their heads in the sand when it comes to preparing for a no deal Brexit. Speaking just four days before the UK could potentially leave the EU without an agreement, the chancellor warned some firms had adopted an ostrich mentality over the potential outcome of the Brexit [...]
EU ministers say Britain needs ‘clear plan’ to be granted Brexit delay April 9, 2019 EU ministers arrived in Luxembourg this morning to try and thrash out a united stance on whether it should give the UK a Brexit extension ahead of tomorrow's summit. Read more: Brexit delay on the cards as Tories gear up for European elections Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok said the EU should give Britain “more [...]