The US is looking to formalise policy around blockchain technology September 26, 2016 The UK faces competition from across the pond in positioning itself as a world leader in blockchain technology. The fledgling technology that underpins bitcoin, but has far wider implications beyond digital currencies, is hitting the agenda of the US government with the creation of a cross-party working group to look at policies surrounding the technology as well as digital currencies such [...]
John McDonnell just promised to maintain access to the Single Market September 26, 2016 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has vowed to fight to maintain access to the Single Market after Brexit. Speaking at the Labour Party Conference, McDonnell said: We will seek to preserve access to the Single Market for goods and services. Today, access to the Single Market requires freedom of movement of labour. But we will address [...]
The Tories are on track for a 70 seat majority according to new polling stats September 26, 2016 Theresa May's Conservatives would dramatically boost their majority to more than 70 seats in a general election according to new polling figures. The Conservatives led Labour by 10 points in an online survey conducted last week by pollsters Survation. The firm revealed the stats at a fringe event hosted by LabourList at the party conference in Liverpool, [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will now renew the attack on capitalism September 26, 2016 You may not have spent your Saturday morning huddled round the TV waiting for the result of the Labour leadership election to be announced, but you probably haven't missed the fact that Jeremy Corbyn saw off his challenger and cemented his position as leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition. Yes, Jeremy’s going nowhere – [...]
Five points the City needs government to heed during Brexit negotiations September 26, 2016 To a huddle of European journalists, Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, claimed that Frankfurt could be attractive and would welcome newcomers. This is of course just the latest marketing attempt by our competing continental financial centres wanting take some of the City’s business. But how does the City respond? We are of course used to [...]
Syria must burn itself out: It is time for the West to do nothing September 26, 2016 (The best policy is) to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions. Lord Salisbury, 1877 In one of the least shocking policy outcomes of the year, the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria did not last the week. Speaking as a longstanding sceptic of intervention there, being right analytically gives me [...]
Moderate Labour is dead: A new party is the only way to fill the vacuum in British politics September 26, 2016 So he won. And, for second time in little over a year, he won pretty convincingly. Members of the Labour Party have made their choice, and they have chosen to be a purist left-wing sect pursuing their own narrow interests rather than a serious party of government. Over the coming weeks, thousands of people will [...]
International trade secretary Liam Fox’s steer towards hard Brexit has got the City worried – here’s why September 25, 2016 The government's stance on Brexit appears to be hardening, with international trade secretary Liam Fox set to advocate that the UK pushes ahead and becomes an independent member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This would set the UK on a path to leave the EU’s customs union, an area that allows the free movement of goods [...]
Ed Miliband tells Labour to accept Brexit verdict and rally around Corbyn September 25, 2016 Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has warned his party against rejecting June's Brexit vote. Addressing the Labour fringe for the first time in more than seven years, Miliband said it was "nonsense" for a political party to seek to represent the 48 per cent of voters who backed EU membership. "Of course we have got [...]
BBC defends Brexit bias accusations September 25, 2016 The BBC has defended itself against claims that it was bias in its coverage of Brexit. The broadcaster's head of news James Harding has hit back at claims by the Leave camp that post-referendum coverage has been "gloomy or hysterical" while Remainers have accused it of being too impartial. "The BBC’s coverage of the EU referendum was [...]