General Election 2015: The boozy way to cast your vote – coalition cocktails April 16, 2015 If the many insults and photo-ops of the election campaign are already enough to drive you to drink, at least there's now an altogether more civilised way to cast your vote: an upmarket London hotel has come up with range of five cocktails which "capture the personalities of the main parties". Yep – it's the [...]
Schoolboy surprises Labour’s Tristram Hunt saying he would vote Ukip “to get all of the foreigners out of the country” April 16, 2015 With the General Election campaign in full swing, politicians everywhere are clamouring to get that winning photo-op or video clip that makes them look empathetic and in touch with the electorate. Over the past week, David Cameron has had a penchant for being photographed eating, while Nick Clegg has tried his hand at bowling. Today, [...]
General Election 2015: The battle for South Thanet is hotting up as Nigel Farage calls on Ukip supporters to help fight Tories April 16, 2015 Things are hotting up in South Thanet, the seat Nigel Farage is hoping will be his come May 7. By now, the Ukip leader may well have expected to be storming ahead in the polls considering the huge publicity he has generated. But yesterday it emerged that he was likely to come in third, with the [...]
General Election 2015: Tax is a bigger policy concern than red tape for entrepreneurs – but Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem manifestos failed to address any April 16, 2015 British entrepreneurs are more concerned about how the next government will address the issue of tax than they are about red tape and regulation. Research by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) found reforming tax was the biggest policy concern for a quarter of entrepreneurs. Just four per cent called for the government to simplify regulations and decrease [...]
General Election 2015: Ukip’s immigration policy will create “a shrinking and ageing” population, claims leading economist April 16, 2015 Ukip's stance on immigration has come under fire by a leading economist and expert on the issue, who claims there is no evidence to support the argument that they overburden public resources. Michael Ben-Gad, a professor at City University in London and author of a Treasury-funded report on immigration and fiscal policy, claimed the so-called [...]
General Election 2015: McCarthy & Stone CEO Clive Fenton wants a retirement housing plan April 15, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 21 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. CLIVE FENTON: CEO, MCCARTHY & STONE Every political party claims the chronic housing shortage is critical in the UK, [...]
General Election 2015: Icap boss Michael Spencer could leave the UK if Ed Miliband wins April 15, 2015 High-profile City veteran Michael Spencer threatened to leave the country if Labour wins the General Election, warning that Ed Miliband could be very hostile to businesses. Former Conservative party treasurer Spencer runs inter-dealer brokerage Icap, and said that if business conditions are hit too hard by a Miliband government, he can imagine the board asking [...]
General Election 2015: A Labour government could send Royal Mail boss Moya Greene elsewhere April 15, 2015 She might hail from Canada, but I’d bet that Moya Greene will be keeping a closer eye than many Britons on the outcome of the General Election. Eighteen months after its contentious privatisation, the boss of Royal Mail may face the prospect of a full parliamentary term with UK government ministers behaving as an irritatingly [...]
Zoopla: Labour win in General Election would be bad for housing April 15, 2015 Zoopla, the online property portal, says that a Labour victory in next month’s General Election would be bad for the housing market. The firm believes that the party’s policies could have a particularly negative impact on first-time buyers. Zoopla say Labour’s proposal to restrict banks and building societies that accept deposits under the new Help [...]
General Election nerves and a lack of supply causing property sales to flatline April 15, 2015 An uncertain General Election, combined with supply constraints, has led to flatlining property sales and enquiries. The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that London saw a decline in both enquiries and sales for the 11th month in a row. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “Anecdotal evidence does suggest [...]