The pound steadied early this morning but remained on the backfoot following a volatile overnight session after British politicians defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal by a crushing margin. The British parliament yesterday voted 432-202 against May’s deal, the worst parliamentary defeat for a government in recent British history. Investors’ short-term focus is […]

Taiwan objects to Britain’s proposed rules for managing its trade in services after it leaves the European Union and has requested negotiations at the World Trade Organization, according to a document seen by Reuters today. The EU has spoken for Britain on trade matters ever since the WTO was founded in 1995. As part of […]

Higher costs for air fares and rising restaurant prices saw the inflation rate move up slightly. The annual inflation rate crept up to 0.7pc in December compared with the same month in the previous year. The annual rise was 0.6pc in November. The slight rise in the inflation rate was despite falls in petrol and […]

Car fuel prices have dropped to their lowest level in almost 18 months, according to an AA Ireland survey. The drop is due to a global fall in the cost of crude oil as a result of greater supply. AA said the fall was no thanks to the State which takes 64pc of the cost […]

Central Bank changes that came into effect on mortgages at the start of the year represent a missed opportunity to tackle some of the worst excesses of our dysfunctional home-loans market. Now lenders will have to tell customers if they can make savings on their mortgages. Lenders will also have to let variable-rate mortgage customers […]