UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
from Hugo Dixon:
UK should get on front foot with City
It is perhaps too much to expect Britain’s Conservative-led government to lead any initiatives on Europe, such is the orgy of self-destruction in the party over whether the UK should stay in the European Union. But, insofar as David Cameron manages to get some respite from the madness, he should launch a strategy to enhance the City of London as Europe’s financial centre.
Britain has in recent years been playing a defensive game in response to the barrage of misguided financial rules from Brussels. It now needs to get on the front foot and sell the City as part of the solution to Europe’s problems. The opportunity is huge both for Britain and the rest of Europe.
The chance of getting the EU to swing behind a pro-City strategy may, on the face of it, seem pie in the sky. Many people blame financiers for the financial crisis. So how could they be part of the solution? What’s more, Continental Europeans have long tended to be suspicious of financial markets.
Hence, the plan by 11 EU countries (not including the UK) to apply a tax on all financial transactions. Hence, too, the recent decision to cap bankers’ bonuses thoughout the EU (against London’s objections) and a scheme, so far not agreed, to do the same for fund managers.
from Hugo Dixon:
Brexit could come before Grexit
Investors have been obsessed with the notion of “Grexit” - Greece’s exit from the euro. But “Brexit” - Britain’s exit from the European Union - is as likely if not more so. The country has never been at ease with its EU membership. It refused to join its predecessor, the European Economic Community, in 1957; it was then blocked twice from becoming a member by France’s Charles De Gaulle in 1960s; and shortly after it finally entered in 1973, it had a referendum on whether to stay.
The euro crisis has put further pressure on this difficult relationship. David Cameron’s Conservative Party, the governing coalition’s dominant group, delights in pointing out the flaws in the single currency. The party’s eurosceptics feel vindicated because they have long believed that monetary union was only possible with political union.
from FaithWorld:
FInancial crisis boosts European suicide rates, especially in Greece, Ireland
(Suicide hotline sign at telephone booth near Beachy Head, the chalk cliffs near Eastbourne, a leading UK suicide spot, 29 January 2009/Les Chatfield)
Suicides rates rose sharply in Europe in 2007 to 2009 as the financial crisis drove unemployment up and squeezed incomes, with the worst hit countries like Greece and Ireland seeing the most dramatic increases, researchers said on Friday. Rates of road deaths in the region fell during the same period, possibly because higher numbers of jobless people led to lower car use, according to an initial analysis of data from 10 European Union (EU) countries.
from The Great Debate:
It’s time for a wider European policy debate
By Mohamed El-Erian
The opinions expressed are the author's own.
It is safe to say that there is broad agreement on what is most desirable for solving the Irish crisis -- namely a mix of domestic policies and external financing finely calibrated to enable the country to grow strongly, create jobs, stabilize the banks, and overcome large and mounting indebtedness.
Unfortunately, what is most desirable is not feasible given the path Europe is embarked on; and, to make things even more complicated, what appears feasible to Europe is not necessarily desirable. As a result, Ireland finds itself stuck in an unstable muddled-middle. It can't get ahead of the crisis; it is far from a first best solution; and it confronts choices that are painful to implement and uncertain in outcome.
from Reuters Investigates:
This is going to hurt
In Britain, the coalition government is readying its “comprehensive
spending review” later this month. Rather than get caught up in chasing which government departments or bodies will be cut, two of our reporters focused on a single council – in this case, the City of Birmingham, which happens to be the biggest local authority in Europe – and explored what it’s doing to prepare for the change ahead.
For a lot of people, the most visible sign of cuts in Britain will be at a local level, as services are pulled back and jobs are lost. In the leadup to the spending review details, lobbyists in London have been doing great business. Check out their tactics for survival – although if you’re worried about your government contract but haven’t done anything about it, you’re probably already too late.
from Left field:
Why the Ryder Cup is so special
My love affair with the Ryder Cup began in 1969 when my first golfing hero, Tony Jacklin, was involved in a memorable halved match with Jack Nicklaus that saw the American great sportingly concede a three-foot putt at the last hole.
The passion grew stronger and stronger until the relationship was consumated when I covered my first Ryder Cup as a journalist at the Belfry in 1985.
from Global News Journal:
EU delivers its own “State of the Union” address
The European Union talks frequently about wanting to be a bigger player in the world, about making its political influence match its economic weight and the need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States.
And at least in one respect it can now say it's America's equal -- both have a State of the Union address.
from Global News Journal:
Does Washington care about the EU?
Try as it might, the European Union's efforts to act like a bigger player in world affairs keep running into obstacles.
The latest setback is a report that President Barack Obama won't be able to make it to the annual EU-U.S. summit this year, pencilled in for Madrid in May. A hectic domestic agenda and the fact the U.S. president made 10 foreign trips last year -- more than any other president in his first year in office -- means staying at home is the priority and the Europe Union will have to wait.
from Global News Journal:
EU’s Ashton seeks stronger ties with U.S.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton
Catherine Ashton has signalled her intention of giving the European Union's relationship with the United States more prominence in her new role as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs.
How productive that relationship proves to be depends largely on how much Washington believes it needs the EU and how much it deals with the European Union as a whole, rather than with its member states one-to-one.
from MediaFile:
Digital, Life, Design 2010 Live Coverage
DLD (Digital - Life - Design) is a three-day experience gathering 800 entrepreneurs, investors, philantropists, scientists, artists and creative minds from all over the world. With global diversity in attendees and an interdisciplinary perspective of digital, media, design, art, science, brands, consumers and society, the conference is known as the European forum for the "creative class".
Follow live coverage of the conference here
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The Wall
