Much of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England will have a largely cloudy day, with the risk of rain in the west. Drier and brighter for the rest of England and Wales, with sunny spells. Temperatures a little above average.
Editorial 15.11.24
Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first Mansion House speech yesterday – an annual address to the City of London by the sitting chancellor. Her speech made the headlines this morning.
Elsewhere, reports on several ongoing investigations into non-crime hate incidents (NCHI) feature on the front pages.
The Financial Times says the chancellor has urged City regulators to allow financial service providers to take greater risks, saying that the rules introduced after the 2008 financial crash had “gone too far” and were harming growth. The paper says the comments were part of an attempt by Reeves to “reassure City grandees that she had a growth strategy”.
The i says Reeves has backed plans to allow bankers to receive their bonuses after a five-year deferral period instead of the current eight years. Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey made a “political intervention” in the UK’s relationship with Europe saying Brexit was damaging the economy, the paper highlights.
The Times reports they have found evidence of “confusion” among cops after Freedom of Information requests revealed that children as young as nine have been investigated over such incidents in the classroom, something that’s not supposed to happen.
The Daily Telegraph reports that three police forces have been involved in the investigation into a social media post by one of its journalists prompting a “major backlash” from critics who fear a threat to free speech. Columnist Allison Pearson said she was told by police she was being visited over a “non-crime hate incident” regarding a now-deleted social media post. But Essex Police said officers spoke to Pearson earlier this month in an investigation under the Public Order Act, which is understood to relate to alleged incitement to racial hatred.
The Daily Mail says the prime minister has been told to “police the streets, not the tweets” after Downing Street said Starmer supported police action to “capture data” on incidents and comments which are not serious enough to constitute a crime. The paper says critics say the growing number of NCHIs being recorded is a “waste of police time”.
The Guardian says more than 250 unpaid carers could face trial after unknowingly racking up debts because of benefit overpayments. It says 15,000 carers have been affected overall, with 50 being asked to repay at least £10,000. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, himself a carer for his teenage son, is quoted calling for a halt to repayment demands until a review is carried out.
It reports that campaigners are calling for a halt to prosecutions of people unable to return benefit overpayments while an independent review of the carer’s allowance is carried out.
The Metro says consumer group Which? Has launched a lawsuit against Apple alleging the tech giant is “ripping off” customers of its iCloud storage service. The group accuses Apple of forcing the service on customers and making it difficult for them to use alternatives, the paper reports.
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UK economy grew 0.1% in third quarter
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Bitcoin hit a fresh record, the US dollar rose to a four-month high and Tesla shares jumped, as investors raised bets on the big winners from Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory. The dollar was up 0.4 per cent against a basket of its peers on Monday, passing the level it hit the day after the election last week and taking it to its highest since July. The euro fell 0.5 per cent to $1.067, its lowest level since June. Bitcoin, which has hit a series of record highs in the wake of the election, surged 7 per cent to $82,020, as Republicans looked increasingly likely to take control of the House of Representatives, having already won a majority in the Senate.
London’s challenger stock market Aquis has accepted a £194m takeover offer from Swiss-based bourse operator SIX Group, in a move which will likely inflame fears over the health of the UK’s equity markets. In a statement to the market today, Aquis said the offer would value its shares at 727p per share, a 120 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price of 330p per share. Directors at the St Paul’s based bourse, which is dual listed on its own Apex market and the London Stock Exchange’s AIM, said the deal would help provide the scale needed to compete against bigger firms in the European exchange market.
London Heathrow airport is set to surpass its pre-pandemic passenger record after its busiest October ever saw seven million travellers use the airport. More than 7.2m passengers flew through Heathrow in October as the half term peak helped the airport to its sixth consecutive month of more than seven million passengers.
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that financial regulation had “gone too far” last night as she pledged to rip up red tape and put the City watchdogs on a growth footing.
In her maiden Mansion House speech in the Square Mile, Reeves said that regulatory measures brought in since the financial crisis in 2008 have looked to “eliminate risk” and had “unintended consequences” in hampering growth.
“We cannot take the UK’s status as a global financial centre for granted,” she said. “In a highly competitive world we need to earn that status and we need to work to keep it.”
Reeves has laid out a package of reforms aimed at driving competition across financial services and unlocking a wave of capital from the UK’s pension system.
The UK grew at a slower pace than expected in the third quarter, according to new figures, with business groups pointing to the impact of uncertainty ahead of last month’s Budget.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the economy grew 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, after contracting 0.1 per cent in September.
Economists had expected both the quarterly and monthly figures to show a 0.2 per cent expansion.
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