News

Activist investors are relatively new but very influential players in international capital markets. They are shareholders at publicly traded companies who attempt to affect change in an organization either by directly appealing to, or putting heavy pressure on, the company’s board of directors, bypassing the normal advisory process. The scope of activist investors’ actions varies depending on their assertiveness and on what exactly they seek to change at a given company. The firms that activists target tend to underperform relative to...

By Ben Gelblum, Contributing Editor @BenGelblum To paraphrase France’s greatest export (apart from Stella Artois) Jean Paul Sartre: “all human endeavours are doomed to failure.” Tony Blair and John Major join the EU Referendum fray today with even more nightmarish complications for those hoping for a quick and easy Brexit - like having to renegotiate the whole Northern Ireland peace process while dealing with the possible dissolution of the United Kingdom with another Scotland Independence referendum leaving us rebuilding Hadrian’s...

Our MPs have just finished their inquiry into flooding and concluded that a “proactive approach to flooding is needed”. The report published this morning by the Environmental Audit Committee exposed the Government’s knee-jerk reaction to flooding. During the last Parliament funding was cut just before floods, only to be "increased" after the floods. The funding has fluctuated year by year. The Committee has demanded an action plan from the Government. Beavers should be part of that plan. Earlier this year, just one month after...

With the recent release of Oculus Rift, gamers are getting excited about the presence of virtual reality in their homes. But have you ever considered how different your school days might have been if this kind of technology had been available in your classroom? Well, that’s something that Hope Education has been thinking about too… Hope Education - a leading supplier of educational supplies in the UK - has developed this engaging tool, designed to show us what the Classroom...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The factory where Trident nuclear warheads are built has seen construction disruption due to protests by anti-war protestors. The blockade at the Berkshire site has been organised by an international group of anti-war protestors. On Wednesday the group claimed that they had brought a halt to work on the site for over three days. It is part of a month of direct action that began on Monday, when the group began to block roads near...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Distressingly the world is now a more dangerous place, astoundingly there are now only ten nations that can be considered totally free from any form of conflict. Most of this small countries have relatively small populations. This shocking statistic was reported by the authors of the 10th annual Global Peace Index. The ongoing strife in the Middle East, the growing refugee crisis and terrorists massacres shows that 2016 is less peaceful than 2015 Additionally there...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Footage has emerged of a huge Russian nuclear warplane flying over rebel-held territory in Syria, only a short distance from the Turkish border. There are concerns that relations between Turkey and Russia could deteriorate even more, from an already low point. The warplane was filmed over Idlib, and the Tupolev bomber was spotted in the airspace over the rebel-held area, which has suffered constant airstrikes.  Russia has been accused of bombing the area, despite being...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor In a shocking twist in the EU referendum campaign a Tory MP has switched sides. Sarah Wollaston has now left the Leave campaign and will now back the Remain side instead. She was instantly subjected to attacks from Leave campaigners on social media after she made her announcement. Wollaston, who is chair of the health select committee, has decided that the claims that leaving the EU would mean an extra £350m would be available for...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The on-line voting registration system had crashed, EU citizens had wrongly been given polling cards and both sides have predicted the world will end on the 23rd June depending on which box you tick. So unsurprisingly the EU referendum led today’s session. At one stage Cameron pointed across the chamber and said: “look, the Lib Dems, Greens, and trade unions are all on the same side.” A Brexiteer axis of evil if ever I seen...