Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK and France have pledged for the first time to co-ordinate the use of their nuclear weapons, saying they would jointly respond to protect Europe from any “extreme threat”.The announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, during a state visit by the French president to Britain, marks a significant step-up in co-operation between Europe’s two nuclear powers as they seek to respond to a growing threat from Russia. It also comes as President Donald Trump has cast doubt on US…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.One by one the supposed pillars of the economic argument for Brexit have been knocked away by the realities. Far from being shackled to a corpse, as some Brexiters described the EU economy, both the Eurozone and the EU have grown faster than the UK since the 2016 referendum. Britain’s goods exports have slumped compared with the rest of the G7. “Look at services”, Brexiters cry. Their export growth has been exceptional, according to Policy Exchange, the right-of-centre think-tank. The Office for…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldPresident Donald Trump is set to visit the UK this summer but has no plans to meet King Charles during the “semi-private” trip, in what is likely to nonetheless require a huge security operation, according to multiple people.The president is due to travel to Scotland, where he has several golf courses, in the coming weeks. “He was always hoping to come semi-privately” this summer, said one person with knowledge of the plans, who added that there was “no proposal to…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK energy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The UK government is set to hold a minority stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power project as ministers close in on a final deal to secure private investment into the multibillion pound development.The government’s stake is expected to be diluted to around 47.5 per cent, with Canadian investor Brookfield Asset Management, British energy supplier Centrica and French energy giant EDF holding the remainder, according to people with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations.Brookfield is likely to take a 25 per cent stake,…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The UK government’s plan for pension reform has been called into question after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said he did not think it was appropriate for ministers to mandate investment in British assets.The pensions schemes bill includes a contentious power to allow regulators to force pension funds to invest a minimum amount in private markets.The government has said it hopes not to use the “backstop power”, and that plans to consolidate defined contribution (DC) schemes will drive more investment in…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK tax myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out prolonging a freeze on income tax thresholds for the rest of this parliament, as the UK Labour government battles to fill a fiscal hole some economists say could be more than £20bn.Starmer told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that he stood by the Labour party’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT on working people.However, he refused to be drawn on whether extending the freeze on tax bands…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.EU lawmakers have voted to remove the United Arab Emirates and Gibraltar from the bloc’s “grey” list of countries with lax money laundering controls, in a move set to ease talks towards a trade deal with Abu Dhabi.The two are among eight jurisdictions set to be removed from the list, which carries reputational damage and adds costs to transactions involving people or entities from listed countries, as financial institutions must carry out extra due diligence.Abu Dhabi had raised the issue as an…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Victims of the UK infected blood scandal have been “harmed yet further” by the government’s response to the decades-long affair, the chair of the public inquiry has said, calling for “fairer” and “faster” compensation.Just 460 people treated with blood that was contaminated with HIV and other diseases had received compensation since a damning report was published in May last year, Sir Brian Langstaff said on Wednesday.Although ministers had set up a victim compensation scheme within 12 months of his report, Langstaff warned…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It takes two to tango. A plague on both your houses. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. The British have a deep stock of phrases that seek to divide the blame for any human conflict. This suggests a fair-minded people, and might explain (or be explained by) their mostly tranquil domestic history.It is also dishonest. In some if not most conflicts, one side is guiltier. When Britain and France fell out after Brexit, the fault lay with consecutive prime…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Thames Water has refused to claw back bonuses worth £2.5mn, despite UK government threats to block what ministers dubbed “outrageous” payments at the utility that is trying to avoid renationalisation.The bonuses handed out to 21 senior staff in April were disclosed on Wednesday in a dump of documents by the parliamentary environment committee. It has recalled heads of Thames Water to give evidence next week amid “new financial concerns” for the UK’s biggest water company.The bonuses were the first instalment of a…