Government policies to avoid blackouts will add £100 to UK household bills May 20, 2016 Government schemes to keep the lights on and meet low-carbon targets will add £100 to annual household bills within five years. The capacity market and contracts for difference which help guarantee the UK's energy security will help drive energy subsidies up by 124 per cent by 2020-21. Read more: National Grid warns government over handing blackout responsibilities to energy [...]
EU referendum: Hundreds of celebrities urge public to vote for Remain May 20, 2016 Celebrities including Benedict Cumberbatch, Bill Nighy, Helena Bonham Carter, Jude Law and Keira Knightley have signed an open letter in support of the EU, as we enter the final weeks before the referendum. Hundreds of actors, writers, directors and artists have put pen to paper ahead of the vote, urging the public to vote to remain part [...]
US elections: David Cameron deserved his slapdown – his cosy politics won’t wash with Trump May 20, 2016 Donald Trump’s ability to offend both individuals and mass groups of people should not come as a surprise to anyone anymore. That said, while what he says no longer shocks me (that’s not a challenge, Donald), it often upsets me, and causes me to empathise with the groups targeted. His accusation that Mexican immigrants are rapists [...]
The City is irresistible for scores of firms – and we’ll keep doing business regardless of Brexit May 20, 2016 We hear most days how the City will be ruined if Britain votes for Brexit. It is said that there will be flight of capital to Frankfurt, trade will plummet, and international businesses will lose faith in London’s financial predominance. In the last week, Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced that, in the Bank’s view, a [...]
EU referendum: Why business owes it to its workers to take back the Brexit debate from the political elites May 20, 2016 The most important influence on how Britain will vote on 23 June is unlikely to be President Obama, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn, or Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson. The unsung persuader in this vote will be a friend or colleague at work. There are 5.4m businesses in the UK and a total of 31m employees. Each [...]
As the US slaps a 522 per cent tariff on Chinese steel imports, should the world fear a new trade war? May 20, 2016 Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. Things could be much worse than they presently are. In the century to 1950, world tariffs averaged 20 to 50 per cent. Now they average 1 to 3 per cent. But protectionism ain’t dead yet. We’ve seen it aplenty from populist presidential hopefuls Donald Trump [...]
US steel tariffs put UK market at greater risk says Labour May 19, 2016 Labour has clashed with the government over yesterday's hike in US steel tariffs, claimed that the change leaves the UK's steel producers further exposed. The US dramatically increased the cost of Chinese cold rolled steel yesterday, installing a new tariff, five times higher than its provisional charge. Speaking to Morning Wire shadow business secretary Angela Eagle [...]
Toilet brushes, tables and mysterious purchases: should MPs treat expenses the same as the rest of us? May 19, 2016 Is a toilet brush a legitimate expense claim? MPs must reconsider what they claim for In this, the era of austerity, the UK public have been accustomed to hearing that we are only ever a few steps away from falling off a metaphoric economic cliff. “We are all in this’ together,” is the message from our politicians. [...]
Well, this is awkward: Now the Tories have re-selected a Tooting MP candidate with “extremist” ties May 19, 2016 The Conservatives have reselected a by-election candidate for Tooting, despite reported links with a man David Cameron has called an extremist. The Conservatives have confirmed local campaigner Dan Watkins will again seek to win the Tooting parliamentary seat in a by-election. However, it comes despite reports Watkins enlisted the support of Tooting imam Suliman Gani in [...]
This is how many financial services firms are not prepared for a Brexit May 19, 2016 Around one in three financial services firms will not have a clue what to do should UK vote to leave the EU on 23 June, figures published today show. Pinsent Masons has released further information on a study into business' preparation for a potential Brexit, this time honing in on the financial services sector, and [...]