Author: LoveWorld UK

British public borrowing surged again in August to a new record high, driven by huge outlays to combat the coronavirus pandemic, with the budget deficit so far this tax year overtaking its full-year peak during the global financial crisis. The government has now borrowed 173.7 billion pounds ($221.8 billion) in the five months since the start of the financial year in April, outstripping the previous record of 157.7 billion pounds set in the 12 months ending March 2010. Government budget forecasters have warned the deficit could hit 372 billion by the end of the tax year, raising borrowing as a…

Hundreds of restaurant owners and bar staff protested outside Marseille’s commercial court on Friday against a government order to shut from Saturday to curb the surge in new coronavirus cases in France’s second biggest city. The government ordered bars and restaurants in the city to close for two weeks after placing Marseille and its surrounds on the Mediterranean on the maximum alert level for the spread of the virus. But Marseille residents and local officials say the move is disproportionate to the risks and will devastate the local economy. “We’re in complete despair. When they shut us down, they humiliate…

China’s CNOOC 0883.HK is seeking a buyer for its Scott platform and its stakes in associated oilfields in the British North Sea, three banking and industry sources told Reuters. CNOOC appointed Lambert for the sale which could fetch several hundred million dollars if CNOOC retains decommissioning liability, but if it does not, the package might change hands for very little, three sources said. The Scott platform ties into the Forties Pipeline System and the St. Fergus gas terminal. CNOOC operates the platform and owns stakes in the Scott, Telford, and Rochelle fields alongside Dana Petroleum, Edison, HitecVisions’s Neo, and MOL MOLB.BU. EnQuest…

Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N Chief Executive Officer Charles Scharf has apologized for making insensitive remarks around race and diversity, seeking to quell a row over his references to a shortage of talent among minority groups. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Scharf had exasperated some Black employees in a Zoom meeting this summer when he reiterated that the bank had trouble reaching diversity goals because there were not enough qualified minority candidates. He also made the assertion in a company-wide memo that announced diversity initiatives as nationwide protests broke out following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, in police…

Sweden has beaten coronavirus by refusing to shut the country down and achieving herd immunity, according to an expert. The Scandinavian nation was the only country in Europe not to introduce strict lockdown measures at the start of the pandemic. But scientists believe that this may have helped it avoid a second wave of Covid-19 as it continues to record its lowest number of cases since March – with just 28 infections per 100,000 people. This figure is less than half of the UK’s own infection rate of 69 per 100,000 people. Professor Kim Sneppen, an expert in the spread of coronavirus at…

Britain’s finance minister will announce more job protection plans on Thursday, likely to include a new wage subsidy scheme, to stem unemployment in the pandemic-ravaged economy after existing safeguards expire next month. Rishi Sunak had ruled out a wholesale extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which supported 8.9 million private sector jobs at its peak in May, but a growing second wave of COVID-19 cases has brought clamour for a replacement. He will announce a new wage subsidy to encourage part-time returns to work instead of full furlough pay, plus an extension of a sales tax cut for the…

Civic leaders in Marseille reacted with anger on Thursday to the closure of the city’s bars and restaurants, saying they had not been consulted by the French government which ordered the measures to contain an upsurge in COVID-19 cases. Health Minister Olivier Veran ordered bars and restaurants in Marseille to shut for two weeks from next Monday, after placing the city and surrounding region on the Mediterranean coast on the maximum alert level for the spread of the virus. Local politicians said the step was out of proportion to the risks and would devastate their economy. “It was with surprise…

A swathe of British businesses are unprepared for the end of the Brexit transition period at the turn of the year, a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce showed on Thursday. Some 51% of companies had not taken any steps recommended by the government to prepare for changes in the trade of goods, the survey showed, with little more than three months to go before a shift in the terms of trade with the European Union. Britain told businesses on Wednesday to prepare for paperwork or face 100 km-long queues of lorries when the country’s post-Brexit transition arrangement ends,…

Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to tear up a pact with the European Union on the free movement of people, after a referendum campaign that exposed rifts in society over foreigners who make up a quarter of the population. The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – the biggest in parliament – is leading the charge to seize back control of immigration, echoing some of the arguments pro-Brexit politicians used in the run-up to Britain’s exit from the EU. Opinion polls suggest it will not be so successful. A gfs.bern poll found 63% of respondents opposed the SVP proposal…

Britain is considering more targeted measures to help save jobs once its furlough scheme stops at the end of October, foreign minister Dominic Raab said, amid speculation that German-style wage subsidies could be brought in. Opposition and business leaders have been calling for the scheme to be extended in some form to avoid a cliff-edge effect they fear could put make millions unemployed, particularly as new COVID-19 restrictions hamper any economic recovery. Raab said the programme, officially called the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), would come to an end, but hinted more help could be on the way. “I don’t…