BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY ALL UPHILL FROM POLITICS, BUT NOT AS YOU HERE THE BEST KNOW IT THE HARD WORLD NEW HOTELS IN OF US ELECTION ADS P22 THE ALPS P24–26 MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE 3,557 CITYAM.COM FREE MENACED Storm Dennis wreaks DOUBTSOVER havoc on UK with wind and floods BOJO BUDGET NUMBER 10 WANTS FEWER SPENDING LIMITS MINISTER COY ON CONFIRMING MARCH DATE STEFAN BOSCIA cent of GDP or below. that Johnson wants to push his infra- @StefanBoscia This allowed the Prime Minister structure programme even further. to pledge £100bn of infrastructure Institute of Directors chief econo- THE TIMING and content of the forth- spending at the election, with £22bn mist Tej Parikh said: “Businesses have coming Budget were both thrown of it already earmarked for projects. been eager for infrastructure up- into doubt over the weekend, with However, Johnson and new chancel- grades, but that doesn’t mean writing the government refusing to confirm lor Rishi Sunak — in post after Javid a blank cheque. either the date of the event or that resigned last week — are now set to “There’s a strong case for promoting current spending limits would meet tomorrow to discuss easing both projects in the north and midlands, remain in place. of these rules in order to open the but there still needs to be a robust Boris Johnson is considering scrap- spending taps even further, according framework in place.” ping fiscal spending rules written just to the Sunday Times. Javid was informed of the proposal months ago as Number 10’s plans to The pair will also discuss whether to on Tuesday last week, but pushed take greater control of the Treasury push back the 11 March Budget to a back against the move. begin to take shape. later date in order to let Sunak get to By Thursday, he had resigned from Former chancellor grips with his new job. Transport sec- the job after refusing to accept John- Sajid Javid wrote retary Grant Shapps refused to con- son’s demand that all of his staff be the rules into the firm that the date, which had been sacked and replaced by people of Tories’ 2019 election inked into diaries, Number 10’s choosing. Javid said “no JACK RICHARDSON Herefordshire and Shropshire. manifesto in an at- would not change. self-respecting minister” would have AND POPPY WOOD Flights were cancelled at Heathrow tempt to exercise fis- Number 10 re- agreed to such a request. @JackRich93 @poppyeh and Gatwick airports, while Wales cal restraint amid a portedly wants to When asked about a potential and the north of England bore the swathe of spending change day-to-day change in fiscal rules, Number 10 A RECORD number of weather brunt of the fierce winds and promises. spending rules said: “We will continue to have a clear warnings were issued in England downpours that caused flooding. The primary rules to increase NHS fiscal framework — that is confirmed over the weekend as Storm Dennis Residents in south Wales and along were pledges to have and social care ex- at the Budget.” battered the UK, causing severe the Welsh border had to be rescued a balanced budget penditure. Mean- Oxford Economics chief economist damage to homes and infrastructure. after water poured into their homes, on day-to-day depart- while, easing the Andrew Goodwin said the prospect of Around 600 flood warnings had while the army was drafted in to help mental spending capital projects a more expansionary Budget had been declared by yesterday evening, repair flood defences in Yorkshire. by 2023, and to rule indicates already had a positive effect on with four severe warnings in England The extreme weather followed the keep borrowing markets, with sterling and bond and two in Wales indicating a danger impact of Storm Ciara last weekend. to fund capital Johnson (left) yields increasing on Friday. to life. Major incidents were declared projects at three per and Sunak The Treasury declined to comment. in south Wales, Nottinghamshire, £ CONTINUES ON P7 Red flagged: Chinese race cancellation could cost Formula 1 up to $33m EXCLUSIVE to take place in Shanghai in April will see it visit more than 20 events by a competent authority force majeure certificates, which CHRISTIAN SYLT but was postponed by F1 last week countries in eight months. due to... outbreak of disease... could wipe out contractual obligations if at the request of local event Crucially, it is unclear when result in the loss of revenue under they cannot be performed due to FORMULA 1 (F1) has revealed it risks organiser Juss Sports Group. Shanghai will be able to hold the Formula 1’s commercial contracts.” unforeseeable circumstances. losing its estimated $33m (£25.3m) Nasdaq-listed F1 said it is liaising race. The city is on lockdown as a They added: “If the cancellation F1 declined to comment on hosting fee for the Chinese Grand with Juss and authorities in China result of the coronavirus, which has of an event is due to a force majeure whether outbreak of disease is Prix if the authorities in Shanghai to try and reschedule the race. infected more than 68,500 people in event... the race promoter is not listed as being a force majeure event give the red light to the race over However, it is widely believed that China and caused over 1,660 deaths. required to pay Formula 1 the race in the Chinese Grand Prix contract. the coronavirus outbreak. this will not be achievable due to Company documents revealed promotion fee for that event.” The Chinese Grand Prix was due F1’s tightly-packed schedule, which “cancellation of large-scale public China has already begun issuing £ CORONAVIRUS LATEST: P3, P7 FTSE 100▼ 7,409.13 -42.90 FTSE 250▲ 21,790.08 +116.18 DOW▼ 29,398.08 -25.23 NASDAQ▲ 9,731.18 +19.21 £/$▼ 1.303 -0.002 £/€▼ 1.202 -0.001 €/$▼ 1.084 -0.001 02 NEWS MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2020 CITYAM.COM LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Vintage motors from around the world take to the streets of India as part of the 21 Gun Salute car rally THE CITY VIEW Barclays and Downing St have thinking to do NCE is unfortunate, twice could be coincidence but three times starts to look like a pattern. We can now say OJes Staley’s unfortunate habit for gathering eyebrow- raising headlines certainly looks like the latter. The latest is the controversy surrounding his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and two watchdogs’ investigation into whether he was entirely transparent about that acquaintance in disclosures to the board of Barclays. We cannot pre-judge these investigations, and Staley is adamant that he was at all times “transparent and open”, but it is now known that he remained on friendly terms with Epstein long after the financier’s first conviction in 2008, including spending time on his yacht in 2015. Combine that with his previous misadventures at Barclays — a £640,000 personal fine for attempting to out a whistleblower, a $15m MORE than 140 vintage cars from around the world hit the streets of New Delhi over the weekend during the ninth edition of the corporate fine from US two-day 21 Gun Salute International Vintage Car Rally in India. The race, which kicked off underneath the capital’s India Gate (pictured), featured rare beauties including the 1932 Bullet Nose Studebaker and 1921 Fiat Corsa. authorities for “shortcomings” and an unseemly row with Avoidable errors once-Barclays client KKR after he intervened in his brother-in- are just that law’s battle with the American giant — and you can be forgiven for wondering whether some on Buyer boom lays ground the board could find themselves asking whether it’s possible to go on tolerating such high-profile missteps in exchange for a satisfactory professional performance. On the other side of London, a different kind of leadership is also developing a habit for peak UK house prices for blundering into avoidable rows. The latest controversy that the PM’s top aide Dominic Cummings has created out of thin air is in the hiring of Andrew Sabisky, a “super forecaster” who has JESS CLARK per cent. In London, the number of outcome may be paying a higher in the past written about the potential benefits of forced @jclarkjourno agreed sales jumped 26.4 per cent price, but they can now jump into compared to last year, according to the spring market with renewed contraception and described the supposed advantages of a UK HOUSE prices are expected to data from Rightmove. confidence.” particular drug as “probably worth a dead kid once a year”. break records over the coming Rightmove director and housing Lucian Cook, head of Savills Considering journalists found these posts by Googling his name, months as buyer activity outstrips the market analyst Miles Shipside said: residential research, added: “Since the one can imagine that Number 10 was aware, but hired him number of new sellers, according to “There is a boom in buyer activity out- election we’ve certainly seen a new research. stripping the rise in the number of significant uptick in new buyer anyway. This is unsurprising — Cummings thought nothing of The average price of property new sellers, which we expect to lead to demand in the prime market knifing the ex-chancellor, after all — but it is also unhelpful. coming to market jumped 0.8 per cent a series of new price records starting which creates a real opportunity for Neither a government nor a company should tot up too many — or £2,589 — this month, just £40 next month” sellers while stock for sale remains rel- avoidable mistakes.