Business and Economics

There were renewed concerns in the Eurozone that Italy’s anti-establishment 5-star movement would ditch the Euro. Both the right-wing League, who govern the country with the 5-star movement, campaigned on an anti-euro platform. However, they backed away from the move when they came into power in June. Rumours have since been circulating that Italy might be considering leaving the single currency, but that was quashed last night. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said: “No-one need fear an exit...

it will be many of the "just about managing" that May came to power promising to help that will suffer the most

World famous toy trader Hamleys has made a £9.2m loss for the year up to 31st December. The year before that they made £1.7m. They have put the blame for difficult trading down to Brexit and the potential terror threat. Hamleys is the world’s oldest toy retailer and was forced to shut some of its branches recently. They ceased trading entirely across three markets - Sweden, Denmark and Norway. "In the UK, 2017 was one of the most challenging years...

This is another kick in the teeth for the UK’s proud shipbuilding tradition says GMB Union GMB has expressed outrage after almost 300 job losses were announced at Cammell Laird. The company said it was slashing 291 jobs - nearly 40 per cent of the workforce – by March 2019. Just this week the shipyard won two contracts worth more than £600 million, to maintain Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships. GMB will meet with members on October 15, before meeting with the...

Theresa May has announced plans to make employers reveal their ethnicity pay gap. It is hope this will identify extent of discrimination, in the workplace, on race grounds and that this will change in the future. Currently only 3 per cent of employers measure their ethnicity and disability pay gap. This announcement comes after the gender pay gap revealed huge discrepancies in cretin companies and sectors. Ms May said: “Every employee deserves the opportunity to progress and fulfil their potential...

An IMF report has concluded that the UK’s public finances are some of the worst on the planet. Since the banking crash of 2008 nearly £1tn has been slashed from the public sector, which is 50% of GDP. Bailing out the banking sector and public sector pension liabilities hugely contributed to the poor state of the UK’s public finances. Of 31 countries only Portugal was in a weaker position. The Gambia, Uganda and Kenya rank above the UK. Norway ranked...

Britain is one of the top EU member states opening its doors to criminals via Golden Visa schemes that allow corrupt individuals to gain residency-by-investment. A report released today by Transparency International and Global Witness has revealed at least six thousand passports and nearly 100,000 residency permits have been sold in the EU in the last decade. Spain, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and the United Kingdom have granted the highest numbers of these – with over 10,000 each. Golden Visa schemes...

Worrying figures show the high street has hit a slump. In September retail sales increased by the lowest level for nearly a year. KPMG and the British Retail Consortium found like-for-like retail sales were down 0.2 per cent, while total sales increased 0.7 per cent. The BRC said this was the lowest growth rate since October 2017. Helen Dickinson, head of the British Retail Consortium said: "These figures lay bare the difficult operating environment for the retail industry. “After a...

The UK faces challenges that can only be solved through partnership. In its pre-Budget letter to the Chancellor, the CBI proposes ways to unlock enterprise, increase the country’s competitiveness and attract more investors, all aimed at lifting productivity and sharing prosperity. This is particularly important as the UK has the lowest level of business investment as a proportion of GDP in the G7, with the gap widening even further. To set the UK on the right path, Carolyn Fairbairn, the...