Prisons and public spending: how can minister for justice Michael Gove make the maths add up? November 26, 2015 Prison statistics released by the government this morning show an increase in prisoners, while at yesterday’s spending review, the chancellor told the Ministry of Justice to find £600m worth of savings by 2019, which is a 15 per cent cut to his resource budget. How can Justice Secretary Michael Gove make the maths add up? [...]
Cairn Energy at centre of HSBC rate-rigging allegations July 21, 2016 Cairn Energy is the client at the centre of a US investigation into rate-rigging, currency fixing and market manipulation, City A.M understands. US prosecutors allege two senior HSBC employees artificially boosted sterling ahead of a $3.5bn deal (£2.7bn in today's prices), netting the bank around $8m in profit. Bloomberg reported that the oil explorer had hired HSBC in 2011 to convert the sales proceeds of [...]
City Moves for 12 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 11, 2015 Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Michael Bond has been appointed mid markets relationship director in the bank’s technology, media and telecommunications team in London. He previously held a similar role at Lloyds, looking after clients in the education, communities and government sector across the South East. State Street Global Advisors State Street’s asset management arm has [...]
Here’s why the UK government was planning a £6m deal to modernise Saudi Arabian prisons in the first place October 13, 2015 Why the UK is pulling out of the deal Prime Minister David Cameron has backtracked on a deal worth £6m with the Saudi Arabian Prison Service due to the country's human rights record and criminal justice system. The cancellation is a victory for justice minister Michael Gove, who had lobbied the Prime Minister to cancel the [...]
UKIP’s migrant poster comes under fire from both EU referendum campaigns June 19, 2016 Both the Leave and Remain sides of the EU referendum campaign levied strong criticism at Ukip's migration poster today. Prime minister David Cameron told an audience on BBC Question Time "there have been some moments like the Nigel Farage poster which I think are just wrong … it's an attempt to frighten people, to scare them [...]
MPs: Treatment of confiscation orders currently teaching wrongdoers that crime pays July 5, 2016 Government's current treatment of confiscation orders is sending out the wrong message about crime, a report published today has warned. In particular, the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the Home Office for routinely missing opportunities to push for confiscation orders, which allow proceeds from crimes to be recouped from somebody who has been [...]
Serious Fraud Office drops forex probe saying there is “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction” March 15, 2016 The Serious Fraud Office has ruled there is “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction” in its investigation into forex manipulation. The criminal investigation was launched in July 2014 following allegations of price rigging in the UK's £3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market. The claims centred around allegations that traders would manipulate the flow of trades and [...]
“Snoopers’ Charter” data collection rules ok if proportionate, says European court July 19, 2016 A UK law requiring companies to keep up to a years worth of data on people's emails, phone calls and web activities is okay – as long as it "satisfies strict requirements" – according to a preliminary ruling from the European courts . The legal case, which has implications for the future legislation on monitoring communications, was brought by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson and [...]
Drinkers pay net tax of £7bn: It’s time to stop pretending they’re a burden on taxpayers September 2, 2015 Teetotallers should raise a glass of sparkling water to Britain’s drinkers, who are subsidising the Treasury to the tune of £6.5bn a year according to a think tank. Revenues from alcohol taxes amount to over £10bn, according to official figures crunched by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The contribution of drinkers to [...]
Cameron and Khan team up to launch Remain “guarantee card” May 30, 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron and London mayor Sadiq Khan will today unveil a new list of five guarantees offered by a vote to Remain in the EU. Volunteers will distribute the list as a “guarantee card” as the EU referendum campaign reaches its final weeks. The guarantee card reads: “Vote Remain on June 23rd, and [...]