Competition and Markets Authority rejects calls to break up big banks in retail banking review October 22, 2015 The competition watchdog has ruled out breaking up Britain’s biggest banks and defended so-called free banking practices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the preliminary results of its 18-month investigation into the retail banking sector this morning. The watchdog launched the investigation over concerns the “Big Four” banks – Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Barclays [...]
Politicians and industry figures struggle to solve UK steel crisis as sector awaits further subsidies October 21, 2015 Government and industry figures yesterday admitted that there was no firm solution to the UK steel crisis, as the struggling sector awaits EU approval for further subsidies. Factors cited for the decline of the sector include the flood of cheap steel arriving from China, combined with high business rates and energy costs. Gareth Stace, the director [...]
China’s state visit to the UK: Xi Jingping defends Chinese steel production October 21, 2015 Chinese President Xi Jingping has defended his country’s industrial policies, saying that an overcapacity of steel is a global problem. Speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street today, Xi said: “The world is facing the overcapacity of iron and steel, not just the UK.” Blaming the “impact of [...]
Younger Britons more likely to want to remain in the EU – NatCen Social Research October 21, 2015 Younger Britons are more likely to want to stay in the European Union, while older people are more likely to want to leave, a new study has found. A report published by NatCen Social Research found that 69 per cent of those aged under 35 wanting to stay inside the EU, with just 25 per cent [...]
CBI director-general: benefits of EU membership outweigh the disadvantages October 21, 2015 A leading business group has made a major push in favour of Britain’s European Union membership. In a new report published today, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), set out its case for the UK remaining in a “reformed” EU. The CBI argued that the EU provides British firms with multiple advantages, including more customers [...]
The best reactions to Sajid Javid Vs. John Bercow October 20, 2015 Business secretary Sajid Javid was earlier schooled by Speaker of the House John Bercow. The remarks by Bercow came after a speech in which Javid was responding to a question from a Labour MP on the steel industry, following the announcement by Tata Steel that they were going to be cutting 1,200 jobs at its plants in [...]
Speaker of the House John Bercow tells business secretary Sajid Javid his statement was “discourteous and incompetent” October 20, 2015 He may have at one time been a Conservative, but John Bercow's role as Speaker of the House clearly means he's not going to be giving any of his former party's ministers an easy time, after he gave business secretary Sajid Javid a telling off in the Commons today. After a speech in which Javid was responding to a question from [...]
Electoral Commission data: Here’s how much money donors have given to political parties and politicians in 2015 October 20, 2015 The amount of money donated to both political parties and politicians since the General Election has – as you might expect – dropped substantially. But now new data from the Electoral Commission shows that with the London mayoral elections and Labour leadership contest, the amount received by political parties and regulated donees between 8 May [...]
Data protection watchdogs: The race is on for EU and US to find a new Safe Harbour agreement after European Court of Justice landmark ruling October 20, 2015 EU data protection watchdogs have set a January deadline for the EU and US to strike a new accord allowing Europeans’ data to be sent across the Atlantic, or risk enforcement action. In a landmark ruling the European Court of Justice decried the Safe Harbour agreement as invalid on 6 October. The court sided with [...]
IPPR think tank: one in three UK working mothers are breadwinners October 20, 2015 One in three working mothers in Britain are the breadwinners in their families, according to a new report out today from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). IPPR, a think tank, found that the proportion of maternal breadwinners rose from 23 per cent nearly two decades ago to 33 per cent in 2013. The [...]