The Irish Times (July 10)
“The Brexit planning document published by the Government on Tuesday is reminiscent of the warnings about the Irish economy and housing market that proliferated in the first phase of the economic crash a decade ago. It is one of the most alarming documents ever published by an Irish government…. Written in low-key officialise, it is a sobering read.”
Tags: Alarming, Brexit, Economic crash, Government, Housing market, Ireland, Planning, UK, Warnings
The Guardian (July 9)
“The pound has come under fresh selling pressure amid rising fears over the strength of the British economy as no-deal Brexit looms,” tumbling to its lowest sustained level in over two years. “The latest sell-off comes at a time of a stalling UK economy, as the boost from stockpiling before the original Brexit deadline begins to fade” and fears grow that “the economy probably contracted in the three months to June, raising fears of a technical recession.”
Tags: Brexit, Economy, Fears, No-deal, Pound, Pressure, Recession, Sell-off, Stalling, Stockpiling, UK
Reuters (June 28)
“British consumers have turned gloomier about the economy and the outlook for their personal finances,” according to a consumer-sentiment survey. “The GfK consumer sentiment index—which has been negative since shortly before the June 2016 Brexit referendum—fell to -13 in June from May’s seven-month high of -10.” This is just one of the signs pointing to “a lacklustre second quarter for the economy.”
Tags: Brexit, Consumer sentiment, Consumers, Economy, GfK, Gloomier, Lacklustre, Negative, Outlook, Personal finances, Referendum, UK
Financial Times (June 25)
“The latest Brexit fantasy is the most absurd of all. Article 24 of the WTO’s underlying treaty is not a solution to no-deal.” If Boris Johnson wins the election, “he needs to have a plan ready to deal with the disappointment of his followers when it turns out they were sold policies under false pretences. A unilateral invocation of part of Article 24 is not a way out of the UK’s Brexit predicament. If Mr Johnson and his followers do not know that, they soon will.”
Tags: Absurd, Article 24, Brexit, Disappointment, Election, False pretences, Fantasy, Johnson, No-deal, Treaty. Solution, UK, WTO
Investment Week (June 24)
“The highly-publicised suspension of Neil Woodford’s flagship LF Woodford Equity Income fund has significantly damaged the UK general public’s relationship with investing…. There will ‘clearly be ramifications’ for the active management industry.”
Tags: Active management, Damage, Flagship, Fund, General public, Investing, Ramifications, Suspension, UK, Woodford
The Irish Times (June 13)
“Next door in Britain there’s a fevered contest under way for leadership of the Tory Party and thus Britain. The right-wing Tory Party once presented itself as the pragmatic party of business. Now it’s a radical separatist sect populated by clownish demagogues.” The three leading contenders are “the opium user [Rory Stewart], the buffoon [Boris Johnson]and the swivel-eyed loon [Dominic Raab].”
Tags: Buffoon, Business, Contest, Cownish, Demagogues, Johnson, Leadership, Loon. Raab, Opium, Pragmatic, Radical, Separatist, Stewart, Tory Party, UK
The Guardian (May 23)
“All political careers end in failure. Not all end in a punishment beating. The apparently imminent departure of Theresa May as Tory leader has seen a brutality rare even for the British Conservative party.”
Tags: Beating, Brutality, Careers, Departure, Failure, Imminent, May, Political, Punishment, Tory, UK
Financial Times (May 5)
Brexit has “exposed the internal divisions within the established political parties and unearthed a diversity of views that is struggling to be contained inside two organisations. A more diverse political landscape would, arguably, be more representative of modern Britain. But making this transition will not be a quick process. Any break-up of the old political order is likely to be long, slow and painful.”
Tags: Break-up, Brexit, Diversity, Divisions, Exposed, Order, Parties, Political landscape, Slow, Struggling, Transition, UK
Guardian (May 4)
“Thursday’s results mean there’s only one way forward: ask the people…. Both Labour and the Tories saw votes that have previously been cast for them move elsewhere, above all to the parties that want us to stay in the EU. Parties that have advocated some form of deal that involves leaving the EU–the Tories and Labour–were punished across the country. They lost seats and they lost votes.”
Foreign Policy (April 24)
“Britain can’t afford to keep talking about Brexit. The never-ending conversation about leaving the EU has stalled all other progress on economic policy…. We need a resolution to this phase of Brexit, not just to resolve the short-term issue but so that we can start to think about the long term again.”
