Attorney General: High Court judges relegated Brexit vote “almost to a footnote” December 3, 2016 The Attorney General is gearing up for a Brexit battle next week, as he argues the government's case that the referendum outcome should not be relegated "almost to a footnote". Jeremy Wright, the government's top legal officer, is heading to the Supreme Court where the hearing will decide whether the Prime Minister is entitled to trigger formal [...]
Chris Grayling set to strip Network Rail of its dominance over rail maintenance December 3, 2016 Chris Grayling is set to to hand over power of Britain's train tracks to operators in a speech next week. The transport secretary wants take away the state-owned Network Rail's sole control of the nation's rail infrastructure and share it with private firms in what would mark a huge change in how Britain's rail network [...]
President-elect Donald Trump is on the defensive over call with Taiwan December 3, 2016 Donald Trump has started as he means to go on. The President-elect did what he always does after raising eyebrows (this time over a phone call with Taiwan): he took to Twitter to defend himself. The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you! — Donald J. Trump [...]
Don’t blame it on the politicians, blame it on social media: Brits think Twitter and Facebook led to Trump victory December 2, 2016 We've heard about the evils of social media and all the supposed wasted hours we spend online, but this might be a bit much. Apparently, nearly half of Brits think that Donald Trump would not be President-elect right now had the US election taken place before the existence of social media. A YouGov poll of 1,658 [...]
Boris Johnson: The UK is not a nation hauling up the drawbridge December 2, 2016 Boris Johnson has signalled the government's intention to ensure Britain remains a powerful force in global politics after Brexit, saying the UK is "not a nation hauling up the drawbridge". In one of his most forward-looking speeches since the Brexit vote, Johnson said Brexit "emphatically does not mean that Britain turns in on itself". "There [...]
Trump warns of heavy tax “consequences” for US firms that head elsewhere December 2, 2016 He'd only just reneged on his pledge to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton over her email saga, but the President-elect isn't softening his stance elsewhere. Donald Trump has warned companies of "consequences" should they look to leave the US, which doesn't sound ominous at all. Speaking in Indiana to take credit for saving 1,000 jobs [...]
Editor’s notes: The uncertain art of measuring the UK’s economic uncertainty December 2, 2016 You may not have seen it on the News at Ten but Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Kristin Forbes delivered a fascinating speech last week on the nature of economic uncertainty and how best it can be measured. As Donald Trump said when he delivered his victory speech, “it’s a complicated business, folks”. [...]
Richmond Park by-election result: Zac Goldsmith loses to Lib Dem candidate Sarah Olney December 2, 2016 Lib Dem candidate Sarah Olney has won the Richmond Park by-election. Olney was running against the constituency's incumbent MP, Zac Goldsmith, and took 20,510 votes against the former Tory's 18,638. The result is a shocking turnaround from the 2015 General Election when Goldsmith commanded 58 per cent of the vote. Goldsmith triggered the by-election by resigning [...]
Faith alone won’t keep the euro alive indefinitely December 2, 2016 The euro is an astonishing achievement. Not, obviously, because it’s been a tremendous economic success: unable to devalue, the economies of much of southern Europe are being gutted, facing gravity-defying rates of unemployment (20 percentage points higher in Greece than in Germany), painful efforts to cut wages to restore competitiveness, and essentially unsolvable debt crises. The [...]
Public Accounts Committee: MPs raise concerns over HM Revenue & Customs’ annual performance December 2, 2016 A key parliamentary oversight committee has criticised the taxman's plans to cut costs and urged authorities to lead the way in combating the opaqueness of multinational corporations' tax affairs. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today revealed its conclusions within its annual report on HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Plans are being implemented by HMRC to cut costs by [...]