Barack Obama’s memoirs to be published after US election in November September 17, 2020 The eagerly-awaited memoirs of former president Barack Obama will be published in the wake of the US election in November. A Promised Land — the first of two volumes — will be released globally on 17 November, the book’s publisher confirmed today. “There’s no feeling like finishing a book, and I’m proud of this one,” [...]
Debate: Should Sadiq Khan be allowed to freeze London rents for the next two years? September 17, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan yesterday said that rents should be frozen in London to prevent a predicted wave of evictions caused by Covid-19. He called for new powers to prevent any rent increases for two years in the capital, warning that half a million people could face eviction because of arrears built up during [...]
Donald Trump welcomes ‘dawn of new Middle East’ as Israel signs deals with Bahrain and the UAE September 15, 2020 Donald Trump hailed the “dawn of the new Middle East” at the White House this afternoon as Bahrain and the UAE signed historic deals with Israel. The Gulf states are the first Arab nations to officially recognise Israel in over a quarter of a century. Egypt, in 1979, and Jordan, in 1994, are the only [...]
To understand Russian President Vladimir Putin, we must see the world through his eyes September 14, 2020 One of the most valuable analytical lessons of all was explained to me succinctly by my foreign policy tutor during my happy days at St. Andrews. As he put it, the key to political risk analysis is not to imagine what you would do if you were in Fidel Castro’s shoes, but rather to empathize [...]
Brexit: Prime Minister urges Tory MPs to back him over bill September 12, 2020 Boris Johnson pleaded for Conservative MPs to support his plans to override part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in a Zoom call late on Friday. The Prime Minister told around 250 Tory MPs on the video call that the party must not return to “miserable squabbling” over Europe. He is hoping to pass an Internal [...]
Boris Johnson faces Tory revolt over new lockdown restrictions September 11, 2020 A number of Tory backbenchers have declared their opposition to the reintroduction of lockdown measures. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that social gatherings would again have to be limited to six people from Monday following a spike in positive coronavirus cases. But the reintroduction of this restriction has reportedly divided current ministers [...]
S4 Capital plots further expansion despite Covid-19 profit hit September 9, 2020 Advertising firm S4 Capital today said it was plotting further aggressive expansion despite taking a hit to its first-half profit due to the coronavirus outbreak. The figures S4 Capital’s revenue increased 6.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis to £141.3m in the six months to the end of June. Adjusted pre-tax profit was £13.9m, down [...]
On coronavirus, governments have been the most irrational of us all September 9, 2020 Decisions, whether by individuals, companies or governments, are often made with imperfect and incomplete information. This is so obvious as to hardly seem worth stating. But for well over a century economic theory assumed that decisions were made with complete information. Economists knew full well that this was not always the case. The problem was [...]
Shaun Bailey: London deserves better than the mayor’s message of doom September 8, 2020 Tube use is down 70 per cent. High streets are empty. Only 17 per cent of people are back in offices. These are unprecedented times for London. So you’d think the mayor of London would have a plan to get people back to their offices safely and securely. You’d think he would be innovative, like [...]
15 years that changed the world of journalism and audit September 7, 2020 The world was a very different place 15 Septembers ago. Tony Blair was settling into his final term as Prime Minister after winning Labour’s third consecutive election. England’s cricketers retained the Ashes after the most thrilling series in memory. Oasis topped the singles charts for the very last time. And in September 2005, the UK [...]
