The Month That Was……July 2018

July will probably be remembered by some for the World Cup, when getting beat three times is considered a ‘success’ by England (can you imagine Alex Ferguson or the All Blacks considering that a ‘success’).

 

The World Cup was like a fleeting summer romance, where you promised yourself you wouldn’t catch feelings......but then you did and now you have to fly back Ryanair in a middle seat alone.

 

It will also be remembered for the heat wave that engulfed the UK. You know it’s definitely OK to call it a ‘heat wave’ when the staff in M&S are down to only 2 layers of cardigans.

 

So how else will July 2018 be remembered?

 

Chequers Checkmate

Theresa May took her entire cabinet off to her country residence to seek agreement on a UK vision for post-Brexit relations. After 12 hours, an agreement was reached in a White Paper to take negotiations forward.

 

She said the deal agreed by the cabinet after their "productive discussions" at Chequers would "honour the result of the referendum" and allow the UK to "take back control of our borders, our law and our money".

 

All good then? Ah……no.

 

Boris Johnson (the Foreign Secretary – considered the third most powerful seat) launched a scathing attack on Theresa May's Brexit strategy, saying the "dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt". He promptly resigned from the cabinet.

 

His resignation came hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis quit the cabinet also. He stated that he thought the UK was giving away "too much, too easily" and he had made compromises since taking on the role……but this was "one compromise too far".

 

There you have it……those in charge to lead our great kingdom look far from united. If we can’t agree on what to negotiate, how do we then negotiate?

 

Just a thought.

 

Winners / Losers In May’s Brexit White Paper

If you are one of the thousands of firms and millions of jobs that rely on the £423 billion annual trade in goods between Britain and the EU, the White Paper should be viewed positively.

 

Yes, it is still far from clear if the EU will even go part of the way to accepting the Government's offer of a "common rule book" on how goods trade. But the White Paper on UK-EU relations has at least put that goods relationship at the heart of attempts to secure a future trade deal.

 

Yet when it comes to the UK's £1.4 trillion services sector (which makes up 80% of the economy), it is a very different matter. Here the Government has called for "regulatory flexibility" out of the EU services single market and admitted that "this means that the UK and the EU will not have current levels of access to each other's markets". In other words, there are costs attached.

 

That has brought strong words of protest from the financial services sector, and more specifically the City, which relies on friction-free access to the EU for much of its business.

 

The UK (read Theresa May) appears to want a close deal on goods and is willing to sacrifice services to get it.

 

The Trump Visits UK

The UK ‘welcomed’ Donald Trump in a scaled down visit that was never going to gain royal approval and the pomp and ceremony that President Obama enjoyed. Instead, he took centre stage right in the middle of the Brexit White Paper fallout.

 

Never one to hold back an opinion, Trump said the Brexit White Paper would "probably kill" any trade deal with the US. Yet a few hours later having met the Prime Minister he said a US-UK trade deal "will absolutely be possible”.

 

Confused? You should be. Trump talking in riddles is the norm.

 

To be fair, his visit will probably be remembered more for the protests than anything constructive he had to say……which is the legacy of his stint to date.

 

July’s Biggest Loser……Option 1 – Boris Johnson

No further questions your honour.

 

July’s Biggest Loser……Option 2 – Nissan

Nissan has admitted falsifying emissions tests in Japan. Nissan stated it had uncovered falsified data from car exhaust emissions tests at most of its Japanese factories. And by ‘most’, let’s be clear……it was going on at all of Nissan's factories in Japan, bar one.

 

Hardly a one-off accident or down to a few rotten apples……this is large scale corruption. The next time you take a journey, just consider how this could impact the UK when you see the volume of Nissan’s on the road. Frightening stuff.

 

July’s Biggest Loser……Option 3 – Banks / PPI

Just when you thought that the endless PPI calls, texts and adverts were nearer an end……think again.

 

Banks could have to pay out billions more in PPI claims following a court ruling in Manchester. This will lead to people who were not mis-sold PPI policies being able to claim billions of pounds in compensation for commission payments refunded for a legitimately sold policy. Under existing guidelines, consumers who were sold their policies legitimately may still be entitled to claim money back if the commission is deemed excessive.

 

Around 1.2 million complaints have proved successful under this (the Plevin rule), out of the total of 13 million PPI pay-out.

 

So far banks and insurance companies have had to pay out a total of £30 billion to compensate consumers.

 

Just remember……when you don’t get the interest rate you want on your savings / mortgage or your car insurance renewal premium goes up……you know why.

 

And Finally……

During his visit to the UK, Trump visited the Turnberry golf resort in Scotland which he owns. Yet the US Government paid around £52,000 for housing and accommodations for staffers of President Trump. Is that not like inviting some friends over for dinner to your house and then presenting them with a bill at the end?

 

Nothing like a good old-fashioned conflict of interest to surround Donald Trump!