City job losses loom amid government tax grab and recession November 22, 2022 Square Mile banks, brokers and insurers will shed jobs to alleviate pressure on their balance sheets from the government hiking taxes, the new Lord Mayor of the City of London has warned. Nicholas Lyons, the freshly minted 694th Mayor of the City, told Bloomberg today he expected “there will be some job losses” after chancellor [...]
Labour’s more corporate 2022 conference shows it’s closer to power September 28, 2022 An increasing sense of triumphalism descended on the Labour party conference the longer it went on. While the government’s mini-budget rattled financial markets, and the Tory party descended into factional warfare again, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer delivered an impressive conference speech that electrified the party faithful. Every Labour staffer and activist I spoke to in [...]
Brace yourselves, the era of the ‘alternative budget’ has arrived November 20, 2023 It started when Liz Truss’s faction of 60 or so MPs, who go under the banner Conservative Growth Coalition, pre-announced – to drum up anticipation – and then two months later published their Budget for Growth.
‘Game over, Boris’: Papers give merciless verdict after night of drama in Westminster with Sunak and Javid gone July 6, 2022 “Game over”, declares the headline of The Times’ this morning, which adds it “is a mistake” for the Prime Minister to continue clinging to power because he “has lost the confidence of his party and the country”. It is one of the merciless headlines this a.m. as the national mastheads paint a grim picture for [...]
MPs to grill British Museum director and George Osborne over stolen artefacts October 18, 2023 The former chancellor, who is chairman of the British Museum trustees, and Sir Mark Jones, interim director of the body, will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) on Wednesday.
UK to buy out China General Nuclear’s share of Sizewell C nuclear plant November 29, 2022 The UK government will pay £100m to a Chinese state-owned firm to buy out their share in the Sizewell C nuclear plant. The taxpayer buyout of China General Nuclear’s (CGN) 20 per cent share will mean the UK government and French state-owned EDF will take a 50-50 equity split for the Suffolk nuclear plant. It will [...]
In search of a plug for the blackhole, Hunt must not cull investment in our future November 14, 2022 We are still spending comparatively little compared to other science superpowers such as Israel and South Korea. And the real benefits from investing in R&D aren’t typically felt for about ten years.
Publicans ‘in despair’ amid reports energy support will be delayed September 14, 2022 Pubs and restaurants are running out of time to stay afloat, industry chiefs have said, amid rumours of a delay to energy help for businesses. Government officials had warned business chiefs that a six-month support scheme may not be ready until November, according to a report in The Financial Times. Reports did suggest that officials [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Chancellor of the Blockchain Philip Hammond dabbles in crypto October 12, 2021 Former Chancellor Philip Hammond is following in the footsteps of many a fresh-faced tech graduate and joining a crypto start-up. It turns out a slap over the wrist from Westminster’s lobbying watchdog for hounding the Treasury on behalf of OakNorth bank was enough to leave Lord Hammond disillusioned with traditional finance. Instead, he will be [...]
Sunak backs down against BoE and ditches call-in power over City regulators November 23, 2022 The government has tonight confirmed it will scrap controversial plans to allow MPs to overrule City regulators as part of a post-Brexit Big Bang 2.0 blueprint. The decision to ditch the plans marked a victory for the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have both previously warned that introducing the so-called [...]