Just how blow-out is the HS2 budget?
- 21 January 2020
- From the section Business
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Getty Images
One thing is certain about HS2: it doesn't generate much in the way of agreement.
The latest debate around the high-speed rail line, which could be Europe's largest infrastructure project, concerns a revised cost figure of £106 billion, reported earlier this week.
But experts close to the independent review of HS2 have cast doubt on the significance of that figure to a forthcoming report, led by former chairman of HS2 Doug Oakervee.
Andy Street, the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands and a member of the review panel, told Newsnight that "£106 billion was a 'could be' number.
It was never a base case." Others involved in the process said they did not believe the figure had even featured in the version of the report they had seen.
This blog is taking a break
- 18 December 2018
- From the section Business
This page won't be updated for some time while I'm on maternity leave.
If you want to follow the latest goings on with Brexit and more, you can read Newsnight's Nick Watt's blog and Mark Urban's.
Brexit questions: Poultry edition
- 4 December 2018
- From the section Business
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KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND
Why did the chicken cross the Channel? Well, it's slightly complicated.
We've heard a lot about food imports in the discussion about the potential fallout from a no-deal Brexit. The risk is that disruption at borders, and particularly on the crucial Dover-Calais route, could mean shortages of fresh produce brought in from Europe.
Can the UK parliament block a no-deal Brexit?
- 27 November 2018
- From the section Business
Image copyright
Dan Kitwood
It seems a simple question: can the UK parliament block a no-deal Brexit?
After all, we've been told repeatedly that there isn't a majority in parliament for no-deal. But the answer isn't that straightforward.
Read full article Can the UK parliament block a no-deal Brexit?
Brexit makes government and business bedfellows again
- 19 November 2018
- From the section Business
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PA
It is a mark of how topsy-turvy the world has become that it felt faintly unusual to hear warm words from the prime minister about business - and to get the feeling that she was talking to a largely receptive crowd.
But when Theresa May addressed the Confederation of British Industry's annual conference on Monday, there was a sense that two groups that have tended to find themselves on the same side of the argument are aligned once again.
Read full article Brexit makes government and business bedfellows again
No deal: When planning doesn't cut it
- 14 November 2018
- From the section Business
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Getty Images
Even definitive progress can feel like two steps backwards when it comes to Brexit.
The UK and the European Union have agreed on the terms of a Withdrawal Agreement. Whether or not this means we have "a deal" remains to be seen. What it means for the chances of leaving with no deal in March 2019 are similarly anyone's guess.
Recycling: Sugar, bags, cups and changing UK behaviour
- 24 October 2018
- From the section Business
With the Budget looming next week, there is one area that seems likely to merit Chancellor Philip Hammond's attention: plastics.
After the outcry over plastic waste prompted by the BBC's Blue Planet II and a massive response to a government consultation on the issue, it seems likely that the Chancellor will press ahead with using the tax system as a weapon in the war on waste.
Read full article Recycling: Sugar, bags, cups and changing UK behaviour
Could 'yoghurt' powers hurt Global Britain?
- 16 October 2018
- From the section Business
It has become almost a bit of deal-making shorthand: yoghurt.
It's a way of getting at the idea that governments, when faced with corporate takeovers that they don't much like, fall back on spurious characterisations of the national interest to stop or impede them.
Read full article Could 'yoghurt' powers hurt Global Britain?
Brexit: The traders who aren't (yet) trusted
- 11 October 2018
- From the section Business
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Getty Images
We've heard a lot about so-called trusted traders.
They featured in the government's post-Chequers white paper for our future relationship with the European Union. They featured in the European Research Group's proposals for what should happen at the Irish border.
Read full article Brexit: The traders who aren't (yet) trusted
Amazon’s other pay benefit: A higher UK tax rate?
- 4 October 2018
- From the section Business
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PA
Amazon has been making headlines - and, for once, for the right reasons.
The company said it will raise its minimum wage in the US to $15 an hour. In the UK it will pay workers at least £9.50 an hour, or £10.50 an hour in London.
Read full article Amazon’s other pay benefit: A higher UK tax rate?
