Day: November 23, 2016

    Philip Hammond is clearly keen to tell us he has a populist touch. Even George Osborne never issued a formal pre-announcement of the goodies in his bag. The new chancellor’s approach takes the Treasury’s news management operation to new heights (or depths, depending on your point of view) but Hammond has at least created a talking point by slapping a ban on the upfront fees letting agents charge their tenants. Everybody can applaud that measure – or, rather, everybody apart from the agents, but they have only themselves to blame. Upfront fees have become divorced from the costs of arranging a tenancy and are instead a means to gouge the tenant. London-based Foxtons charges £420 per tenancy, which is essentially a fee for printing out a standard letter and is ridiculous giv...

    Hundreds of thousands of British expats are set to be granted the right to carry on living on the Continent after Brexit after the majority of European Union countries signalled they were ready to do a “reciprocal rights” deal with the UK. Senior Government figures have told business leaders that only “a few” of the 27 EU member states are left to agree the outline of a reciprocal rights agreement for Britons in the EU, and EU nationals living in this country for when Britain leaves the EU. The Government said no deals had yet been struck, but the closeness of an informal understanding is leading to speculation that any deal will be announced at a key EU summit in Brussels next month. It came as Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, delivered a significant rebu...

    Nigel Farage has accused Downing Street of putting its dislike for him ahead of the national interest, after aides to the Prime Minister dismissed out of hand a call from Donald Trump for him to be made the UK’s ambassador to the United States. The interim Ukip leader said it was time for Number 10 to recognise that “the world has changed”, as he claimed he was “in a good position, with the President-elect’s support, to help”. Mr Trump shocked Westminster with a late-night tweet declaring that Mr Farage would do a “great job” and that “many people” wanted to see him as the UK’s senior diplomat in Washington. The property tycoon’s highly unusual endorsement was a fresh embarrassment for Theresa May, who was beaten to meeting the future president in person by Mr Farage. Down...

    Richard Branson is reportedly partially funding a large-scale campaign to reverse the Brexit referendum and keep Britain within the European Union. The Independent revealed an email that highlights how the founder of Virgin Group offered office space and money to help the organisation launch. Virgin has, however, denied funding any Brexit related campaign or organisation. Former Labour health minister Alan Milburn is leading the new initiative according to The Guardian; and Freuds, a public relations agency that was founded by Matthew Freud, a close friend of former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron, will handle the strategy and marketing. © Reuters Brexit: Reactions of Richard Branson, Jes Staley and other top business leaders The email, written by Milburn, poi...