Post Office workers are going on strike as the CWU demands government steps in over job losses August 19, 2016 Another day, and another strike has been announced – this time by Post Office workers, who have voted to go on strike over job losses. In a statement today the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said 83.2 per cent of those balloted had voted for industrial action to protest against cost-cutting measures. “Staff in the Post [...]
Government to launch £5bn fund to help small developers solve the housing crisis before the Autumn Statement August 23, 2016 The government will unveil a fund worth up to £5bn aimed at helping to solve the housing crisis in the weeks leading up to the Autumn Statement, City A.M. understands. The Home Building Fund, aimed at small and medium-sized developers, was announced as part of the Queen’s Speech in May, but has since languished at [...]
Britain needs a culture shift if it’s going to lead the world on free trade November 15, 2016 In her most pro-business speech since she came to power, Theresa May last night made a grown-up argument for Britain to promote free trade. This is excellent. But as the Prime Minister knows, it will take a lot more than pro-trade rhetoric to make things happen. Britain will have to take concrete steps at home and [...]
It’s pure hubris for politicians to think they can “rebalance” the economy September 8, 2016 Theresa May is reviving the idea of interventionist industrial strategy, and wants to “rebalance” the economy. Many people are jumping on the bandwagon. They should jump right off again. Even the more mature of today’s politicians were still in the school playground when these ideas last made waves. In the 1950s and 1960s, UK governments [...]
The public are far less hostile to high levels of immigration than you think September 15, 2016 During elections, complex issues are radically simplified. Both the campaigns and the media are responsible for it, but this is reasonable – busy people have little time to investigate the merits of complicated policy ideas. As such, the immigration debate that took place during the EU referendum was depicted as a choice between continued large-scale [...]
BCC says pre-Brexit trade surge has stalled August 19, 2016 Trade surged on the run-up to the Brexit vote only to stall in the last two months the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said. The amount of trade – as measured by the levels of documentation with individual chambers – rose 9.4 per cent in the second quarter compared to the first three months of [...]
Abolishing these 20 taxes will help the poor, says the IEA November 2, 2016 A radical free-market Westminster think thank is claiming it can maintain welfare support and improve the lot of the low-income workers while scrapping nearly every mainstream tax that the government currently imposes. The Institute of Economic Affairs says the controversial plan would see the poorest 10 per cent of the UK enjoying tax cuts worth [...]
Deutsche Bank has a few ideas for Theresa May’s new industrial strategy August 25, 2016 One of the world's top investment banks has called on Theresa May to embrace a new industrial strategy and help revive British manufacturing to its former glory. Chief economists at Deutsche Bank have put together a dossier for the new Prime Minister on how she can make the most of the post-referendum opportunities, to pull [...]
Europe signs off on €7.5bn finance package for Greece June 17, 2016 European leaders have signed on the dotted line to unlock the latest tranche of Greece's bailout funds this morning. The beleaguered nation will get its hands on €7.5bn (£5.9bn) next week after technocrats from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) – the body in charge of administering the Greek bailout, based in Luxembourg – approved the deal today. Finance [...]
Mario Draghi hits out at German MPs, German banks and ECB naysayers September 28, 2016 Mario Draghi confronted German politicians head on yesterday over their criticism of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s controversial monetary policies. In a speech to the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, before private meetings with MPs, Draghi also reiterated his calls for Eurozone countries to share the burden of stoking economic growth and insisted negative interest rates were [...]