Mark Carney warned MPs that a no-deal Brexit will likely result in job losses and business closures. The Bank of England governor’s comments came as UK unemployment rose unexpectedly in the latest quarter as the jobs market showed signs of a slowdown amid prolonged economic uncertainty.
However, the pound jumped to a four-month high against the dollar after the EU’s chief negotiator said that it was still possible this week, despite it becoming “more difficult to reach an agreement”.
Sterling rose as Michel Barnier told reporters in Luxembourg: “Even if an agreement will be difficult – more and more difficult, to be frank – it is still possible this week.”
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Brexit deal not possible before summit, EU leaders tell Boris Johnson
Finnish prime minister who chairs EU council says ‘no practical or legal’ way to get a deal before meetingIn a letter to investors posted on its website on Tuesday, Link said it expects to start winding up the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund on 17 January once the required three months’ notice period runs out. Mr Woodford will also be removed from his position as the fund’s investment manager with immediate effect.
Mr Woodford, one of Britain’s best-known investment managers, was forced to freeze the fund after a run of poor performance scared investors into withdrawing their cash. That left the fund unable to sell off assets fast enough to meet further redemption requests.
An unusually high proportion of the fund has been invested in illiquid shares, meaning they could be subject to heavy discounts if a sale is required quickly.
Neil Woodford’s frozen fund to be wound up
Mr Woodford is also removed from his position as fund’s investment manager with immediate effectOn the morning that five directors of Thomas Cook face a grilling by MPs, two former bosses have started fundraising for staff who lost their jobs when the firm collapsed.
The 178-year-old travel company went bust on 23 September 2019 after a financial rescue plan fell through.
MPs on the Business Select Committee are to question the chief executive, Peter Fankhauser, and four other directors about the failure.
Meanwhile two men who ran the company before it became saddled with heavy debts have launched a campaign to raise funds for former staff who are struggling financially.
Simon Calder has the full story:
Former Thomas Cook bosses start fundraising to help jobless staff
The people of Thomas Cook were the company’s most valuable asset and it’s devastating to see them suffer’“If they’ve had a chance to check how their own pensions are affected, perhaps the high-paid executives responsible would like to bolster the retirement of some of the workers they left behind, and give some of it back?"
'No choice' but to invest in oil, Shell CEO says
Bank of England warns of business closures under no-deal Brexit
Mark Carney also says Brexit developments over next few days and weeks will have ‘a material impact’ on pound"I think they do your company proud and I think you should reflect, Mr Fankhauser, on what you can do to put something back to try and say sorry to the people whose jobs you've taken from them and whose holidays you've ruined.
"You say you're a reflective man. I hope you will go away and reflect on the huge salaries you've earned, salaries that probably in all the lives of some of the people who worked for you will never earn in their while careers, and think about what you can do, not just as a token, but in some way to put right the wrong that you have done."
A no-deal Brexit will shave more than 10 per cent off UK house prices next year, a top global credit rating agency has forecast.
The decline will hit many people’s most valuable asset even earlier. If Britain crashes out of the EU at the end of this month, house prices will end the year 1.7 per cent lower than in 2018, said Standard & Poor’s (S&P), one of the world’s three biggest providers of government and company credit scores to investors.
Prices will then tumble another 10.2 per cent in 2020 and another 6.1 per cent in 2021, S&P said in a report on Tuesday. House values will start rising again in 2022, but a predicted 5.9 per cent increase that year will undo only some of the previous losses.
No-deal Brexit will slash 10% off UK house prices, says top credit agency
Price plunge will be deepest in 2020, with prices also falling in 2019 and 2021 if UK leaves EU without deal this month, S&P saysInterest rates would likely need to be slashed if Brexit is delayed again, a key Bank policymaker has said.
Gertjan Vlieghe, a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said the Bank would probably need to act to boost the economy in the event of "entrenched" Brexit uncertainty.
In a speech to the MMF Monetary and Financial Policy Conference in London, Mr Vlieghe said: "A scenario of entrenched Brexit uncertainty is likely to keep economic growth below potential, and require some monetary stimulus."
It comes amid signs of a growing split among the rate-setting committee, after the Bank's deputy governor Sir Dave Ramsden said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Monday that the UK's slower "speed limit" for growth could weaken the case for lower rates, which currently stand at 0.75 per cent.
