Anti-EU media poison UK public opinion
BRUSSELS | By Ralf Grahn, lawyer and EU adviser | Sustained campaigns by anti-EU mass market papers deliberately distort public opinion, preparing the ground for secession (Brexit).
UK
The forging of a UK-Nordic-Baltic bloc
By James Kilcourse, researcher at the Institute of International and European Affairs | Has the UK successfully forged an alliance with other “awkward partners” of Brussels? If the situation in the EU’s southern periphery deteriorates further, the ideas that emerge from the annual Northern Future Forum may become ever more influential.
UK, ruling the wAAAves
The leading three rating agencies seem to be very myopic with regards to the United Kingdom and the United States. Would they saw through the branch on which they were sitting?, asks George Dorgan, investment portfolio manager.
Rich, filthy rich and ultra rich in the UK
LONDON | Even Ledbury Research, a specialised market intelligence agency that on Thursday released fresh data on the wealthiest few of the British society, acknowledges how tough the task of gaining access to their detailed information is. Yet, the rich hold a vast share of consumer influence and, obviously, economic power in their countries, so it is worth making the effort. What the Wealth Size report brought is a tale…
Bring the Pickles scheme on over the EU
LONDON | Calls for further fiscal integration of the euro country members come extremely timely. Besides, they tackle the heart of the absurd problem that has been drowning since its foundation the common currency area a little bit deeper every day: utter disorganisation. The same goes for the banking union and budget authority. But these grand advances in the euro zone’s structures will need time and some effective communication strategy…
Ferrovial named preferred bidder for UK’s Calderdale highways contract
LONDON | Amey, Ferrovial Services’ British subsidiary, was named today preferred bidder to take on a highways maintenance contract with Calderdale Council worth up to £120 million. Amey has been Calderdale’s highways maintenance and street lighting provider since May 2000, “and this announcement signals the start of new five year contract with Calderdale Council providing a wider range of services. The contract will begin in October 2012 for five years, with the option to extend…
The self-indulgent City of London
By Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, analyst at XTB, in Madrid | Midsummers have often been marked by markets’ most abrupt movements and scares that have hit unaware investors. This year, it wouldn’t be the first time I saw traders and asset managers cut short their holidays because their positions, once so safe that were left open, have stopped being as secured as they believed. Just skimming through the salmon papers, in…
British AAA in doubt as high street turns ‘zombie’ under insolvency pressures
LONDON | The sterling on Tuesday was mostly unmoved by the light controversy between some of the top ratings agencies regarding the UK’s triple A qualification on its government debt issuance. That is the highest grade, only to be found over the so-called core European countries. A day had barely passed after Standard & Poor’s said the British AAA was solid, when Moody’s noted that an increasingly weak economy poses…
Over 10pc of British small companies planned to close during last quarter
LONDON | Even before the office for national statistics released its estimates of a UK economy in continued slow-motion deterioration, 84 percent of small and medium size companies’ decision makers said they were concerned about the British economic climate, with 38% being very concerned. A new SME Risk Index from global insurer Zurich published Friday showed that the majority in the sector do not feel confident that the economic situation will improve in…
Olympics cash wave too low to surf
LONDON | While the Earth begins to follow the 2012 Olympics' throb, as the Welsh authorities put it Tuesday morning, research to determine whose massive opportunity it is has kick-started. But the scope of the latest studies seems more restricted: instead of holding expectations of a general recovery for the UK's economy, think of particular sectors of the hospitality industry. And think London. According to data collected by Santander UK, London…