Economy

  • Canada strikes it big in China

    Canada is on a mission to impress their counterparts in China, and Prime Minister Mark Carney is leading the charge.

    It’s a tough ask, because Canada has weaknesses in its approach to foreign affairs.

    Its internal wrangling often mixes matters together, and this leads to dissension, and to no small amount of indecision.

    “Finally, to build on this momentum, Canada has set an ambitious goal to increase exports to China by 50% by 2030. To achieve this outcome, Prime Minister Carney and President Xi discussed increasing two-way investment in clean energy and technology, agri-food, wood products, and other sectors.”

    The political system in Canada favours a lack of friction between the representative and those trading, for example, but this has led to poor outcomes.

    The fresh approach by Carney is to stipulate clearly what the aims are, but this has to be a commitment rather than a platform for further revisions of plans.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

  • The Chancellor sticks to her safety settings

    The Chancellor has been waited on for nearly a year for a follow up to a blockbuster first budget hot on the heels of a landslide election win for a reenergised Labour party.

    This is it. A slimmed down vision of the nations finances as she tackles the key points of modern life in the UK to meet the challenges it faces.

    The Chancellor speaking in the House of Commons today on her budget for this year.

    While some stand to gain, any lifestyle progress is going to be made up of costly improvements as a result of a need to balance the books.

    The Treasury is introducing a High Value Council Tax Surcharge on properties above £2 million; will charge National Insurance contributions to employee and employer on pension sacrifices above £2,000; and will impose a per mile tax on electric and hybrid vehicles.

    While these steps may seem punitive to some, the Government believes it can afford to risk marginal increases to the cost of living in the current climate to relieve the pressure put on the public finances.

    It’s not an uplifting budget for everyone, but it’ll reassure the Labour faithful that tough times won’t fall on them any harder, and there are measures to help protect the poorest that they can support.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

  • Westminster Week: Reported world

    Wednesday

    Sir Keir Starmer MP (Holborn & St Pancras/Labour), as Prime Minister, accused the party of the Leader of the Opposition of “crashing the economy” during their extended period in office. “They broke the economy, we’re fixing it,” he says.

    Thursday

    Chris Law MP (Dundee Central/SNP) is seeking to raise the issue of local Journalism in the House of Commons, asking for a debate on its present survival. He’s particularly concerned about its decline in terms of staff layoffs and closures.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

    *A change was made to upload a full clip.

  • Exclusive: UK slips back

    In an exclusive report for Conservative News Site, it’s believed the UK has been downgraded secretly according to a number of measures due to a significant state of internal insecurity and an unusually unstable economy.

    It’s not yet determined how long these special measures will last, but experts at various world-leading institutions have concluded the UK has a long way to go to learn how to govern itself.

  • The CCP is not our ally

    The Chinese Communist Party is not a bedfellow of the West.

    It can’t be. Its entire focus is on its place in China and the place China can occupy in the world.

    This isn’t democratic or even diplomatic.

    It’s a state of affairs that exists for one nation. The limits of it are for the Chinese, and a proverbial exclusion zone is for the rest us.

    This makes it a difficult state of affairs for other nations.

    Many have reported feeling dejected because they couldn’t make trade inroads. Such a loss of economic riches is a bitter feeling, for sure, but it’s also inevitable.

    The largest State on earth isn’t open for business to everyone in exactly the same way it seeks to benefit out of it for and by itself.

    In a way Chinese trade and economic activity is straightforward.

    However, it’s managed by a vast party under the powerful control of a few.

  • Financial crash is a reminder of the future

    The financial world isn’t liable to just crash. It’s a myth of popular economics to think so. The fortunes of countries don’t tank overnight. The process is long.

    It’s the belief of some that policy guides collapse. It’s seen as a slow-motion car crash. They at least see the pieces coming together, and seek to avoid the impact.

    The so-called tried and tested ‘models’ of thriving in a time of turmoil are proven to fail, however, and analysis only really proves itself in the short term.

    It’s fair to say crashes are mistakes, not intentions. There isn’t a bank that plans for it, and there aren’t any that avoid its break on the shores of customer behaviour.

    The essential flaws in any system need exposure, and smoothing out. The chaos that ensues around it is something of a modern phenomenon now.

  • Canada looks to invest at home

    The talk in Canada is that Canadians should like Canada more. This comes as Trump’s international tariff’s shake expectations, and regions of the world unused to dictates work out what to do in response. There’s also a problem on the playing field with China surging in its importance in competing sectors.

    It leads to an obvious conclusion. The ‘do more at home’ or ‘do it yourself’ approach is taking off, particularly in America’s neighbour up north.

    The Source Canada conference this October is part of a new attack on old problems. Its premise is “to help Canadian enterprises buy more Canadian technology,” according to its website. This builds on similar initiatives to revive homegrown businesses struggling to reach out in local sectors.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

  • UK seal US trade deal

    Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President Trump have used a G7 gathering in Canada to announce a finalising of a trans-Atlantic trade agreement.

    Starmer and Trump meet

    It comes after America released a bombastic set of new tariffs that shocked the world.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions (11 June)

  • Westminster Week: Straight-ahead

    Wednesday

    It’s Spring Statement day, but there wasn’t much freshness in the air. The mood in the Chamber was the same. The Prime Minister had little patience for the Opposition’s questioning of education. The Chancellor was defiant in her message.

    Thursday

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath backed Project Willow over Unite’s proposal for Grangemouth’s future.

    “It evaluated over 300 technologies and identified nine potential technologies. We have £200 million available from the National Wealth Fund to invest.”

    It’s busy up north.