Editor’s Notes: The Bank of England must protect its independence December 7, 2018 Former chair of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen once said “the principle that a central bank should be independent from the government is unassailable.” Donald Trump probably thinks unassailable means you can’t sell it, but even if he understood Yellan’s point he seems determined to ignore it. His broadsides against Fed policy are quite [...]
Editor’s Notes: Check back in with the forecasters in 2033 November 30, 2018 The Treasury’s Brexit scenarios, released this week, boiled down to a claim – made with pinpoint accuracy – that the Prime Minister’s deal will leave the UK economy 3.9 per cent smaller in 15 years, compared with staying in the EU. In other news, PwC estimates that artificial intelligence will increase UK GDP by 10.3 [...]
A new Brexit referendum could be held on 30 May, says Justine Greening November 29, 2018 A new Brexit referendum could be held within six months, according to former Conservative cabinet minister Justine Greening. The Putney MP said today that if parliament defeats Theresa May’s Brexit deal on 11 December, wheels could be put in motion for another country-wide poll on 30 May. Such a move would see the Article 50 process [...]
John McDonnell agrees Labour support for new Brexit referendum is ‘inevitable’ November 28, 2018 Labour’s John McDonnell believes it is “inevitable” his party will soon back another referendum on Brexit. In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, the shadow chancellor gave the clearest indication yet Labour will fully endorse another vote on the UK’s relationship with the EU. Labour’s official position is it would push for a general election if Theresa [...]
Venezuela is a brutal lesson to the UK’s socialist apologists November 28, 2018 I know it is very hard to believe, but at some point we shall stop talking about Brexit. We shall get back to discussing what we can do to improve our lives and those of others. And we shall look for inspiration from other countries to learn lessons from catastrophic failures or discover truly amazing [...]
Labour could form minority government without a general election, says John McDonnell November 21, 2018 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said Labour could form a minority government without a general election if Theresa May's Brexit deal is voted down in parliament. His comments mark a change of tack for the Labour leadership, which has been arguing for a fresh general election in the face of Brexit uncertainty. Speaking at a [...]
Amber Rudd: MPs will block a no-deal Brexit and back Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement November 21, 2018 Amber Rudd, the new work and pensions secretary, has appeared to rule out a no-deal Brexit on the basis that the House of Commons will vote through the draft withdrawal agreement put forward by Prime Minister Theresa May. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the former home secretary said the house would stop a [...]
Here are the six (yes, six) reviews the audit sector is currently facing November 14, 2018 As 2018 continues to be the annus horribilis of audit, bean counters are finding that sector reviews are, as the saying goes, like buses. With news this week that MPs are going to launch their own super-inquiry, the sector now faces six reviews. If that seems like more than you’ve got to grips with, here’s a [...]
The pressure is on to fix the broken audit market November 14, 2018 Accountancy may be “an art, not a science”, but there needs to be less “Jackson Pollock”. That’s according to the Labour MP Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, who has made it her mission to fix the broken audit market. The Big Four firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) are [...]
Watchdog summons Corbyn and McConnell to meeting over misuse of statistics November 4, 2018 The staff of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have been summoned to a meeting by the UK’s statistics watchdog over the misuse of stats. Statistics Authority chairman David Norgrove has previously written to the Labour Party over a “lack of published information on sources, assumptions and methods to support statements”. In February [...]