Labour ups the HSBC pressure on George Osborne over tax evasion row February 17, 2015 Labour’s Ed Balls has increased the pressure on George Osborne in the HSBC tax evasion row, calling on the chancellor to answer key questions. Labour are attempting to up the ante on Osborne, who has barely been seen over the course of the eight-day-long political row. HSBC’s Swiss branch is accused of helping customers evade [...]
Draghi’s bond buying sparks EU shares rush February 17, 2015 FUND managers are shunning US shares in favour of Eurozone stocks in the wake of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) massive bond buying programme, a poll showed yesterday. Allocations to listed stocks in the Eurozone rose to its second highest level ever this month, according to Bank of America’s fund manager survey, threatening to breach its [...]
Warren Buffett sheds $3.9bn Exxon Mobil stake as oil prices tumble February 17, 2015 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shed its holding in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter of 2014 as the company reacted to tumbling oil prices. Berkshire had held 41m shares worth $3.9bn (£2.5bn) in Exxon and 471,994 shares in Conoco as recently as the end of September, but a regulatory filing has revealed that [...]
Ukip The First 100 Days: 1,000 complaints over Farage “what if” TV documentary made to Channel 4 and Ofcom February 17, 2015 A television show about Ukip has prompted more than a 1,000 complaints after being broadcast on Channel 4 on Monday night. The fictional documentary, which imagined the first 100 days of a Ukip government if the party were to sweep to power in May's General Election, received 731 complaints Ofcom has said. Another 250 complaints were [...]
Boris Johnson’s Crossrail for Bikes to link Tottenham, Stoke Newington, Dalston and Canada February 17, 2015 The next phase of Boris Johnson's "Crossrail for Bikes" will make it easier for Londoners to cycle from Tottenham, Stoke Newington and Dalston into Canada, Transport for London (TfL) said today. The new cycle superway 1 (CS1), which will run along quiet streets parallel to the A10, could cut cyclists' journey times from Tottenham to [...]
Obama attacks Europe over tech protectionism against Google February 16, 2015 US President Barack Obama hit out at the EU for its scrutiny of companies like Google and Facebook, which he believes is driven by a desire to protect European tech companies. Search giant Google is currently embroiled in a four-year probe into its dominant position in Europe’s search engine market. “Sometimes the European response here [...]
Gordon Ramsay buys Rangers stock to join Mike Ashley fight February 16, 2015 Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay yesterday became the latest big name to join the Rangers First group of fan shareholders, as the association looks to thwart Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley’s attempts to gain control of the club. Former Rangers trainee Ramsay took to Twitter on Sunday to announce he had joined the movement. He [...]
Ukip The First 100 Days: Channel 4’s Farage “what if” TV documentary has already attracted 19 complaints to Ofcom February 16, 2015 Can you imagine a Ukip future? Now you don’t have to. In what’s being called a "fictional docudrama" – aka a "mocumentary" – a new television show will take the hypothetical situation of Ukip sweeping to power in the next election and run with it. The show, due to air at 9pm on Monday night [...]
General Election 2015: Three things we learned about Ed Miliband from his Obama strategist David Axelrod in his interview with the Guardian February 16, 2015 The man who helped get Obama elected and invented what’s probably the most famous political slogan of our times – “Yes We Can” – is on the campaign trail (sort of) with Ed Miliband as the Labour leader’s hot-shot election strategist. Miliband hired the political heavyweight David Axelrod as an adviser in a bid to [...]
Five reasons why the FTSE 100 is pushing towards a record high: Greek debt negotiations, Draghi’s “Bazooka” and a falling pound February 16, 2015 The stock market is edging towards a record high, moving closer to the record of 6930 points it hit on 30 December 1999: or the year the euro was launched, Tracey Emin's "My Bed" went on show at the Tate, everyone fretted about the Millennium Bug and the dotcom bubble was busily inflating. So here's [...]