Explainer-in-brief: Russia’s sanctions a ‘badge of honour’ on 287 MPs April 28, 2022 Russia returned the favour yesterday, sanctioning 287 MPs for playing a key role in implementing sanctions against the Kremlin and for fuelling what Putin’s foreign ministry defines as “Russophobic hysteria”. Back in March, the Foreign Office had imposed 386 sanctions on members of the Russian Duma. Boris Johnson, foreign secretary Liz Truss and defence secretary [...]
Letters: London must wash itself clean April 28, 2022 [Re: Eversheds Sutherland strikes deal with Russian ‘relationship firm’ – made up of ex-employees, yesterday] London is the world’s pre-eminent city for business, but Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has forced British firms to consider their dealings with Kremlin-linked individuals, companies, and organisations. London’s label as a laundromat for questionable funds – Russian and otherwise [...]
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal will spur on efforts to censor online speech – not halt them April 28, 2022 If Twitter turns into a free speech-centric platform, lawmakers and regulators will be emboldened to take greater action against offensive content. On Monday, Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the social media site for $54.20 per share, a move that will take the company private and enable the tech billionaire to incorporate his own [...]
London has been riding high on IPOs but must find favour in its post-Brexit status April 28, 2022 Against all the odds, the London IPO markets boomed in late 2020 and 2021, defying the uncertainties of Brexit and the pandemic to bring 126 new companies to market: 60 on the main market and 66 on AIM. In addition to the sheer volume of deals, there was an encouraging pivot to technology, as a [...]
Up in West Cumbria, the battle for coal has yet to find a winner April 27, 2022 In West Cumbria, a long stretch of coast right by the green hills of the wealthy Lake District, people have been worrying about jobs for a long time. So when the plans for the first new deep mine since the 1980s were first announced, most locals rejoiced. Fast forward to today, the plans haven’t yet [...]
Letters: Small businesses still losing out April 27, 2022 [Re: CBI president: UK needs to tap into fintech’s ‘flotilla of benefits’, April 25] Lord Bilimoria and the CBI aren’t wrong. Businesses need all the support they can get against a backdrop of slow post-pandemic economic growth. The UK has one of the most advanced fintech ecosystems in the world and we’re proud to run [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A mass exodus or sticking around for Twitter anarchy? April 27, 2022 Elon Musk has officially bought Twitter – or as some put it, free speech – for USD$44bn. Not everyone is happy: several high-profile users have promised they will leave the platform, worrying that with no checks in place it will become a place rife with hate, misogyny and offensive content. Because it’s currently such a [...]
Elon Musk wants free speech on Twitter? Time to meet Nadine Dorries April 27, 2022 If Musk thought finding financing would be the most complicated part of the Twitter deal, he hasn’t met Nadine Dorries.
We need to stop comforting ourselves with the myth of the all-powerful central bank April 27, 2022 Inflation continues to be a major problem for policy makers. The annual rate of price increases hit 7 per cent last month and could be in double figures later this year. This projection is far from being a fantasy. On some measures, annual inflation in America is already over 10 per cent. Rather bizarrely, the [...]
If the Conservatives want to survive, they need to regain their economic credibility April 27, 2022 Now, people’s money is counting for less and less as inflation pushes prices up. And a YouGov poll put Labour ahead of the Conservatives on six out of seven economic trackers. For the first time, the same number of people think a Labour government led by Keir Starmer would be better at managing the economy as those believe the same of a Boris-Johnson led Conservative government.