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LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Bank of England looks like it's being outed as the weakest link. The primary reason was that two of the nine-person MPC voted to end the Bank's rate rise campaign right away as the recession the Bank thinks is already underway will get entrenched next year. But with the median economist forecast for the Bank's terminal rate somewhere around 4.25%, markets still seem aggressively positioned for a hawkish surprise and the pound may be more vulnerable to that revision as the winter progresses. Significantly, the implied Fed terminal rate edged higher to 4.9% after its policy setpiece on Wednesday - even if is still below the 5.1% the Fed indicated. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

The UK government has promised to overhaul the youth gender care system, after it was deemed inadequate by England’s regulator of health and social care. They described a deeply flawed system that is now hobbled by a toxic political climate around gender care. The letter said a decision would be made at some point from early 2022 on whether the child “is likely to meet the access criteria” for gender care. The family has received no NHS gender care or mental health support since the referral, she said. These recommended supporting “identity exploration” and mental health treatment as the first steps to ensure that any psychological issues are addressed.

☆ UK government eyes ban on single-use plastic plates and cutlery
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Single-use plastic cutlery, plates and other items are set to be banned by the UK government and replaced by biodegradable items as it seeks to tackle the country’s – and the world’s – growing plastic waste problem. The Financial Times reported that the UK Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey will announce firm plans in the coming weeks. The government said 1.1 billion single-use plates and 4.25 billion items of single-use cutlery are used in England each year, equivalent to 20 plates and 75 pieces of cutlery per person. The European Union banned single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds last summer. In the US, California put in place sweeping new restrictions on single-use plastic in June, requiring all single-use packaging and plastic single-use food serviceware be recyclable or compostable by 2032.

Meanwhile, sea temperatures were around 11-12 degrees Celsius (52-54 degrees Fahrenheit) near Kent overnight, according to CNN Weather. The English Channel, a waterway just over 20 miles (32 km) at its narrowest between Britain and France, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. “It is just over a year since 32 lives were lost in a similar incident,” Solomon said in a statement sent to CNN. Last November, 27 people drowned in bitterly cold waters off the coast of France after an inflatable boat carrying migrants bound for Britain capsized, in one of the deadliest incidents in the English Channel in recent years. Braverman has previously referred to illegal crossings of the English Channel as “an invasion.”“Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavor,” Braverman told parliament Wednesday.

☆ China removes six officials after Manchester consulate incident, UK says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cleverly said the removal of the officials, including the consul general in Manchester, came after a police request to interview them over the incident. The Chinese embassy hit back, saying Britain had failed to protect its staff, adding it launched its own representations with Britain over the incident. It said the consul general had returned to China under a "normal rotation of Chinese consular officials". "In response to our request, the Chinese government have now removed from the UK those officials, including the consul general himself," Cleverly told broadcasters. The Chinese embassy said the protest was a "violent, disruptive provocation", adding Britain had failed to fulfil its obligations to protect the consulate and its staff.

☆ The cofounder of venture capital firm Target Global left after his Russian oligarch father was sanctioned
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alexander Frolov, the son of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, has left his tech investment firm. The UK sanctioned Alexander Frolov Senior on November 2. Alexander Frolov, the son of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, has left the venture capital firm he cofounded and ran, Target Global, amid ongoing concerns about Russian money flowing into European tech startups. The move was first reported by German publication FinanceFwd and was confirmed to Insider Monday by a spokesman for Target Global. The UK sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexander Frolov, formerly CEO of steel-mining firm Evraz, in November 2022.

☆ Billionaire James Dyson says letting people work from home is 'staggeringly self-defeating' and will cause friction between employers and employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sir James Dyson has slammed the UK's plans to extend employees' rights to work from home. Without control over where employees work, companies like Dyson will hesitate to invest in the UK, he said. However, such a move — which comes during a global recession — is a "misguided approach" that will "generate friction between employers and employees," Dyson wrote. "We have seen from our own experience at Dyson during periods of government-enforced working from home how deeply inefficient it is," Dyson wrote. Dyson, who's currently worth an estimated $15.4 billion, is not the first business leader to rally against flexible work arrangements for employees.

☆ Lockerbie bomb maker suspect is in U.S. custody, Scottish prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoLONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A man accused of making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 is in custody in the United States, Scottish prosecutors said on Sunday. "The families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have been told that the suspect Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi ("Mas'ud" or "Masoud") is in US custody," a spokesperson for the COPFS said. "Scottish prosecutors and police, working with UK government and US colleagues, will continue to pursue this investigation, with the sole aim of bringing those who acted along with al-Megrahi to justice." The bomb on board the Boeing 747 en route to the United States killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground, the deadliest ever militant attack in Britain. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Scottish prosecutors have maintained that Megrahi did not act alone.

☆ Keadby 3 becomes first UK carbon capture power station to win planning permission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Expert Analysis | Reuters Professional | Calls Grow For Companies To Disclose Impacts On Nature In Bid To Plug Finance Gap | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Sse Plc FollowEquinor ASA FollowLONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Keadby 3 Carbon Capture Power Station in northern England has become the UK's first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to receive planning permission. The project is backed by Britain's SSE Thermal, part of SSE (SSE.L), and Norwegian energy company Equinor (EQNR.OL). The power station could be operational as early as 2027. SSE Thermal and Equinor are also collaborating on building Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station in the northeast of Scotland. They are also developing Keadby Hydrogen Power Station and Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage.

☆ First on CNN: Defense bill takes aim at Russia’s pot of gold
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —A must-pass defense bill now being negotiated in Congress includes new sanctions designed to trip up Russia’s war machine by targeting Moscow’s mountain of gold. If passed, the defense bill would directly sanction any American entities that knowingly transact with or transport gold from Russia’s central bank holdings. As of mid-2021, Russia’s central bank held $127 billion worth of gold, according to the Central Bank of Russia. The gold is stored at vaults within the territory of the Russian Federation, the Russian central bank has said. In June, President Joe Biden announced the United States and the rest of the G7 would impose a ban on imports of Russian gold.

☆ Explainer: Europe set to import banned Russian diesel without knowing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Rowena Edwards | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The European Union banned Russian crude imports from Dec. 5 and will ban Russian oil products from Feb. 5, as it attempts to deprive Russia of oil revenues. Blending Russian diesel elsewhere with a non-Russian equivalent would not change its origin, while refining Russian Urals crude into diesel elsewhere would. Russian diesel is likely to be delivered to and re-exported from countries such as India and Turkey, market sources said. Europe has already started to replace Russian diesel imports with refined product from the Middle East, but analysts also expect India to refine more Urals and increase diesel exports to Europe. Many of the larger oil companies, including BP (BP.L) and Shell have self-imposed sanctions on Russian oil and oil products.

☆ UK government greenlights first new coal mine in three decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The UK has greenlit a controversial plan to open the country’s first new coal mine in three decades, a little more than a year after the nation tried to convince the world to ditch coal at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Committee chairman Lord Deben said in a statement: “Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero. We condemn, therefore, the Secretary of State’s decision to consent to a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to our previous advice. This decision grows global emissions and undermines UK efforts to achieve Net Zero.”The mine’s approval was also met with fierce criticism from scientists and environmentalists. Its opponents argue these jobs may not be secure, given the huge momentum in Europe to phase out coal.

☆ U.S., Britain launch energy partnership to boost supplies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File PhotoLONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The United States and Britain announced on Wednesday an energy partnership aimed at sustaining a higher level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Britain and collaborating on ways to increase energy efficiency. Britain and other European countries have turned to the United States as they try to reduce their reliance on Russian energy supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine begun in February. "This partnership will bring down prices for British consumers and help end Europe's dependence on Russian energy," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. The "UK-US Energy Security and Affordability Partnership" will also aim to drive investment in clean energy and exchange ideas on energy efficiency and reducing demand for gas. The G7 - which includes Britain and the United States - has agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil.

☆ UK tries to shore up energy supply with US deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Britain has agreed a new energy partnership with the United States that aims to end its reliance on Russia and lower soaring energy costs. He said the aim was to double the amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) the United States exports to Britain compared to 2021 levels. The initiative with the United Kingdom comes nine months after the United States agreed a deal with the European Union to increase LNG shipments to Europe. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the United States became the world’s largest exporter of LNG in the first half of this year. Under the new partnership, the United States will aim to export “at least” 9-10 billion cubic meters of LNG via UK terminals.

☆ UK strikes to hit ambulance services, hospitals and trains in the run up to Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

More than 10,000 ambulance workers represented by the GMB Union will strike again on December 28. Ambulance workers, like others in the UK National Health Service (NHS), “are on their knees,” according to GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison. According to The Times, one million UK workers are set to strike in December and January. The union said that critical care will be exempt from strike action but non-critical services will have lower staffing levels. The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents 115,000 postal workers, has notified Royal Mail of additional walkouts on December 9, 11, 14 and 15.

☆ Wall Street Journal insiders are buzzing about what a leadership shake-up could mean for Murdoch world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker is expected to replace Journal editor Matt Murray, Semafor reported. News Corp insiders believe Murdoch might make changes ahead of a possible recombination of News Corp and Fox. Is Rupert Murdoch planning to move his editorial chess pieces ahead of a potential recombination of News Corp and Fox? Last month, Semafor reported that Wall Street Journal editor Matt Murray is expected to be replaced by Emma Tucker, who leads fellow News Corp title The Sunday Times in London. That report followed the October disclosure that Murdoch is considering recombining News Corp with Fox Corp, with both companies convening special committees to review options.

☆ BIS warns of $80 trillion of hidden FX swap debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has warned that pension funds and other 'non-bank' financial firms now have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in the form of FX swaps. Its main warning though was what it described as the FX swap debt "blind spot" that risked leaving policymakers in a "fog". FX swap markets, where for example a Dutch pension fund or Japanese insurer borrows dollars and lends euro or yen in the "spot leg" before later repaying them, have a history of problems. For both non-U.S. banks and non-U.S. 'non-banks' such as pension funds, dollar obligations from FX swaps are now double their on-balance sheet dollar debt, it estimated. Market volatilityDINO-MITEOther sections of the report focused on findings from its recent global FX market survey.

☆ UK government could bring in military to ease strikes- Conservative chairman
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The British government is looking at bringing in the military to help keep public services running if key workers, including in the state-run National Health Service, take strike action, the chairman of the governing Conservative Party said on Sunday. "We're looking at the military, we're looking at a specialist response force... a surge capacity," he said, adding that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances. Zahawi again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for fuelling energy price rises and inflation, calling on public sector workers to "come together". "There is a minimum safety level of delivery in place already, but the NHS will look at all contingency planning," he said. Reporting by Elizabeth Piper Editing by Gareth Jones and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Eni’s $6 bln Neptune swoop will be a haggle-fest
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Eni (ENI.MI) is hunting for a bargain in the North Sea. Italy’s $52 billion oil major is mulling a bid for oil and gas producer Neptune Energy, Reuters reported on Wednesday, for an equity value of around $5 billion to $6 billion. Given Neptune’s owners CVC Capital Partners, Carlyle (CG.O) and China Investment Corporation last year wanted to list the business for $10 billion, Eni may have to haggle a bit. The UK government recently extended its windfall tax on North Sea drillers to 2028. And the Italian group’s own North Sea expertise may help it argue that the mooted offer price is generous.

☆ China accused a BBC journalist of acting 'as if he were a victim' after he was beaten and arrested while covering mass COVID-19 protests in the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China accused a BBC journalist of playing "victim" after he was beaten and arrested by police. Top UK officials and the BBC slammed China for the move, which China has defended. "This BBC journalist refused to cooperate with the police's law enforcement efforts and then acted as if he were a victim," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a Tuesday press conference. BBC journalist Edward Lawrence was covering mass anti-government protests in Shanghai on Sunday when he was arrested and detained for several hours by local police before getting released. The arrest of BBC journalist [Edward Lawrence] in China is deeply disturbing.

☆ BBC journalist ‘beaten and kicked by the police’ as protests spread across China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jennifer Deaton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —Edward Lawrence, a journalist at the BBC, was arrested by police in Shanghai at the scene of protests on Sunday night, according to the BBC and as captured on what appears to be mobile phone footage of the arrest. The BBC statement reads in full: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. “China always welcomes foreign journalists to report in the country in accordance with the law and has provided lots of assistance,” Zhao said. At least two clips of the arrest were posted online by a Twitter user who says they witnessed the scene.

☆ Nexperia and Elmos cases show how the US-China chip war is spilling over to Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Last week, the new owner of Britain’s biggest chipmaker was ordered to unwind its takeover, just days after another chip factory sale was blocked in Germany. “These decisions mark a shift towards tougher stances regarding Chinese investment in critical industries in Europe,” said Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo‑technology at Eurasia Group. A worker in a clean room for silicon semiconductor wafer manufacturing at the Newport Wafer Fab, owned by Nexperia, in Newport, Wales on Aug. 18. A company sign of Elmos Semiconductor, seen on Nov. 9 in the German city of Dortmund. Both Britain and Germany have recently added rules that expand government oversight over such decisions, making outcomes harder to predict.

☆ Hikvision: UK bans Chinese surveillance cameras from 'sensitive' sites
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Hikvision, a leading Chinese surveillance company, has denied suggestions that it poses a threat to Britain’s national security after the UK government banned the use of its camera systems at “sensitive” sites. Dowden cited “the threat to the UK and the increasing capability and connectivity of these systems,” without specifying further. The minister added that departments could review whether sites not deemed sensitive should also be taking similar measures. The United States in 2019 placed Hikvision and other Chinese companies on a trade blacklist, prohibiting them from importing US technology over similar allegations. Hikvision, in its statement, said its cameras were compliant with UK laws and “subject to strict security requirements.”Dahua did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ Scotland cannot hold an independence referendum without UK government approval, top court rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — The U.K.'s Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Scottish government it cannot hold a fresh independence referendum without the U.K. government's consent. Supreme Court President Lord Reed said in broadcast remarks that the Scottish Parliament did not have the power to legislate on matters reserved to the U.K. Parliament, including the union. A referendum was held in in September 2014 in which Scotland voted to remain in the U.K. by 55% to 45%. The Scottish National Party, which backs independence, became a major political force when it won a majority in the Scottish Parliament in the 2011 election. "However, we must be clear today that the Supreme Court does not make the law — it interprets and applies it," she continued.

☆ Sterling ticks up, economic activity slows by less than expected
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov. 23 (Reuters) - Sterling ticked up on Wednesday, rising for a second day against a faltering U.S. dollar after preliminary British economic activity data beat expectations, though it still showed contraction was underway. Flash purchasing manager index (PMI) data on Wednesday showed British economic activity sticking near 21-month lows, adding to signs of recession as orders sank and employment growth slowed. Despite the latest PMI readings remaining below 50 - the threshold for contraction - the data was slightly better than economists polled by Reuters had expected, leading to a slightly firmer pound. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday that Britain's economy was set to lag major peers in 2023. In an October poll, the rate was expected to end this year at 3.75%.

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