Day: November 30, 2016

    Advocate general Eleanor Sharpston QC told Sky Newsjudges hearing the Government's upcoming Supreme Court appeal against a ruling that Article 50 cannot be triggered without a Parliamentary vote could refer the matter to Luxembourg. She said the 28-member ECJ was “fully aware of the sensitivity and delicacy and constitutional importance of the issue”, adding that a European ruling could take between four and eight months in the event of a referral. Any input from Strasbourg would be certain to inflame hardline Brexit supporters, after the Prime Minister vowed to end its jurisdiction in the UK. “If you join the club and you wish to leave the club, you leave in accordance with the rules when you joined the club," Ms Sharpston added. "The rules of this club are the ones conta...

    Taxpayer-backed bank unveils plan to bolster its capital by £2bn after faltering in annual health check of UK banking system Barclays and Standard Chartered also struggled to pass the Bank of England’s annual stress tests. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Royal Bank of Scotland has emerged as the biggest failure in the Bank of England’s annual health check of the UK banking system. The bank, which is 73% owned by taxpayers, issued a plan on Wednesday to Threadneedle Street intended to bolster its financial strength by an estimated £2bn. Two other banks, Barclays and Standard Chartered, also struggled in the so-called stress tests, the toughest yet, which are based on hypothetical scenarios including house prices falling and the global economy contracting by 1.9%. Barclays alr...