British business activity sank in July to its lowest level since April 2009, a survey revealed today in the first indication of economic contaction since the shock European Union (EU) exit vote. 
 
The preliminary composite purchasing managers&#39; index (PMI) by the research Markit group sank to 47.7 points in July, down from 52.4 in June. 
 
A reading under 50 indicates contraction in private sector activity. 
 
The survey -- regarded as a key early indicator of economic activity before official statistics are published -- is the first major evidence of economic fallout after Britons voted to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23. 
 
&quot;July saw a dramatic deterioration in the economy, with business activity slumping at the fastest rate since the height of the global financial crisis in early-2009,&quot; said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. 
 
&quot;The downturn, whether manifesting itself in order book cancellations, a lack of new orders or the postponement or halting of projects, was most commonly attributed in one way or another to Brexit,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
Third quarter opens on weak footing in Britain&nbsp; 
 
Markit added that the survey signalled a 0.4-per cent contraction in the British economy in the third quarter, or three months to September. 
 
&quot;Much of course depends on whether we see a further deterioration in August or if July represents a shock-induced nadir,&quot; added Williamson. 
 
&quot;Given the record slump in service sector business expectations, the suggestion is that there is further pain to come in the short-term at least.&quot; 
 
Markit added the survey showed that the economy had &quot;opened the third quarter on a weak footing&quot;. 
 
Output and new orders fell in both the manufacturing and service sectors during July. 
 
&quot;A number of firms linked this to ongoing uncertainty pre- and post-EU referendum, with reports especially prevalent among service providers,&quot; added Markit in a statement. 
 
&quot;The downturn in services was also more marked than that seen in manufacturing. Services activity and new orders both fell at the quickest rates in over seven years.&quot; 
 
The collapse in the British pound following the Brexit vote had meanwhile pushed up manufacturers&#39; costs. 
 
&quot;The downside of the exchange rate was a steep rise in manufacturers` input prices, mainly due to higher import costs,&quot; it said. 
 
&quot;The rate of purchase price inflation hit a five-year record, with the extent of the acceleration among the steepest in the survey history.&quot; 
 
The data was published after the International Monetary Fund slashed its global and British economic growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017 earlier this week -- and blamed uncertainty created by Brexit. Britain`s new finance minister Philip Hammond meanwhile declared this week that it was up to the Bank of England (BoE) to respond to the economic &quot;shock&quot; arising from Brexit. 
 
&#39;PMI data could persuade policymakers to act&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Williamson added today that the new PMI data could persuade policymakers to act. 
 
&quot;With policymakers waiting to see hard data on the state of the economy before considering more stimulus, the slump in the PMI will provide a powerful argument for swift action,&quot; noted Williamson. 
 
The BoE kept its key interest rate at 0.50 percent last week, confounding expectations for a reduction -- but flagged a possible August cut in response to Brexit. 
 
Policymakers also signalled that the exact size and nature of any stimulatory measures would be determined at next month`s monetary policy gathering, due on August 4. 
 
The impact of Brexit on the eurozone was much more muted, however, with Markit&#39;s preliminary composite PMI for the 19 nations that share the euro dipping to 52.9 points, which was however an 18-month low. 
 
Williamson said the eurozone economy &quot;showed surprising resilience in the face of the UK&#39;s vote to leave the EU and another terrorist attack in France.&quot; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

The survey is the first major evidence of economic fallout after Britons voted to leave the EU

British business activity sank in July to its lowest level since April 2009, a survey revealed today in the first indication of economic contaction since the shock European Union (EU) exit vote. The preliminary composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) by the research Markit group sank to 47.7 points in July, down from 52.4 in June. A reading under 50 indicates contraction in private sector activity. The survey -- regarded as a key early indicator of economic activity before official statistics are published -- is the first major evidence of economic fallout after Britons voted to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23. "July saw a dramatic deterioration in the economy, with business activity slumping at the fastest rate since the height of the global financial crisis in early-2009," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. "The downturn, whether manifesting itself in order book cancellations, a lack of new orders or the postponement or halting of projects, was most commonly attributed in one way or another to Brexit," he added. Third quarter opens on weak footing in Britain Markit added that the survey signalled a 0.4-per cent contraction in the British economy in the third quarter, or three months to September. "Much of course depends on whether we see a further deterioration in August or if July represents a shock-induced nadir," added Williamson. "Given the record slump in service sector business expectations, the suggestion is that there is further pain to come in the short-term at least." Markit added the survey showed that the economy had "opened the third quarter on a weak footing". Output and new orders fell in both the manufacturing and service sectors during July. "A number of firms linked this to ongoing uncertainty pre- and post-EU referendum, with reports especially prevalent among service providers," added Markit in a statement. "The downturn in services was also more marked than that seen in manufacturing. Services activity and new orders both fell at the quickest rates in over seven years." The collapse in the British pound following the Brexit vote had meanwhile pushed up manufacturers' costs. "The downside of the exchange rate was a steep rise in manufacturers` input prices, mainly due to higher import costs," it said. "The rate of purchase price inflation hit a five-year record, with the extent of the acceleration among the steepest in the survey history." The data was published after the International Monetary Fund slashed its global and British economic growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017 earlier this week -- and blamed uncertainty created by Brexit. Britain`s new finance minister Philip Hammond meanwhile declared this week that it was up to the Bank of England (BoE) to respond to the economic "shock" arising from Brexit. 'PMI data could persuade policymakers to act' Williamson added today that the new PMI data could persuade policymakers to act. "With policymakers waiting to see hard data on the state of the economy before considering more stimulus, the slump in the PMI will provide a powerful argument for swift action," noted Williamson. The BoE kept its key interest rate at 0.50 percent last week, confounding expectations for a reduction -- but flagged a possible August cut in response to Brexit. Policymakers also signalled that the exact size and nature of any stimulatory measures would be determined at next month`s monetary policy gathering, due on August 4. The impact of Brexit on the eurozone was much more muted, however, with Markit's preliminary composite PMI for the 19 nations that share the euro dipping to 52.9 points, which was however an 18-month low. Williamson said the eurozone economy "showed surprising resilience in the face of the UK's vote to leave the EU and another terrorist attack in France." (AFP)

British business activity sinks after EU divorce, eurozone economy shows resilience: Key survey

The uncertainty created by Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union will slow the global economy into next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on Tuesday. 
 
Last month&#39;s populist victory in the British referendum has darkened the skies in that country and across the Euro area, according to the global crisis lender, forcing it to cut April&#39;s growth forecasts and rattling what had already been a fragile recovery. 
 
Britain&#39;s relations to the 28-member EU single market were thrown into confusion following the June 23 vote, raising the possibility of sudden, new trade barriers and at least initially causing a selloff in global financial markets. 
 
Analysts have predicted this will weigh on consumption and investor confidence.

In an update to its April forecast, the IMF said global economic growth was likely to be 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2017, a downward revision of 0.1 per cent for both years. 
 
Brexit was liable to cost the British economy nearly a full percentage point of growth in 2017 as demand will likely be significantly lower than it would have been had the remain camp been victorious. 
 
&quot;Continuing uncertainty is likely to weigh on consumption and especially investment,&quot; the IMF said. 
 
Nigeria, Africas largest economy, saw unusually painful revisions as dropping oil prices have hurt oil revenues, power production and investor confidence. Its economy is now expected to contract by 1.8 per cent rather than grow by 2.3 per cent, a sharp revision that has followed the steep devaluation of the countrys currency. 
 
In a bright spot, stronger activity in the Euro area has seen this years growth forecast revised upward by 0.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent. But possible drops in consumer and business confidence as well as strain on banks means 2017 will likely see a slowdown after the Brexit referendum. Brexits consequences for the United States were likely to be &quot;muted,&quot; with growth steady at 1.8 per cent this year and next, representing a downward revision of 0.2 per cent in 2016. 
 
However, the IMF warned of possibly greater risks for global growth. Non-performing loans and the poor profitability of Greek, Italian and Portuguese banks as well as enduring market turbulence were among factors that &quot;could have severe macroeconomic repercussions,&quot; according to the Fund. 
 
While the short-term prospects for the Chinese economy were unchanged or even improved due to interventions by central authorities -- driving this years forecast up 0.1 to 6.6 per cent -- the heavy reliance on credit to drive growth could create instability. 
 
The recent appreciation of the Yen is likely to counteract an announced two-year delay in hiking a consumption tax in Japan. This has slowed the forecast growth in that countrys already anemic economy, with the IMF revising it downward to just 0.3 per cent, to be followed by a bare 0.1 per cent expansion in 2017. 
 
(Reuters)

Britain's uncertain relations with the 28-member EU single market raises possibility of sudden and new trade barriers

The uncertainty created by Britain's vote to leave the European Union will slow the global economy into next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on Tuesday. Last month's populist victory in the British referendum has darkened the skies in that country and across the Euro area, according to the global crisis lender, forcing it to cut April's growth forecasts and rattling what had already been a fragile recovery. Britain's relations to the 28-member EU single market were thrown into confusion following the June 23 vote, raising the possibility of sudden, new trade barriers and at least initially causing a selloff in global financial markets. Analysts have predicted this will weigh on consumption and investor confidence. In an update to its April forecast, the IMF said global economic growth was likely to be 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2017, a downward revision of 0.1 per cent for both years. Brexit was liable to cost the British economy nearly a full percentage point of growth in 2017 as demand will likely be significantly lower than it would have been had the remain camp been victorious. "Continuing uncertainty is likely to weigh on consumption and especially investment," the IMF said. Nigeria, Africas largest economy, saw unusually painful revisions as dropping oil prices have hurt oil revenues, power production and investor confidence. Its economy is now expected to contract by 1.8 per cent rather than grow by 2.3 per cent, a sharp revision that has followed the steep devaluation of the countrys currency. In a bright spot, stronger activity in the Euro area has seen this years growth forecast revised upward by 0.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent. But possible drops in consumer and business confidence as well as strain on banks means 2017 will likely see a slowdown after the Brexit referendum. Brexits consequences for the United States were likely to be "muted," with growth steady at 1.8 per cent this year and next, representing a downward revision of 0.2 per cent in 2016. However, the IMF warned of possibly greater risks for global growth. Non-performing loans and the poor profitability of Greek, Italian and Portuguese banks as well as enduring market turbulence were among factors that "could have severe macroeconomic repercussions," according to the Fund. While the short-term prospects for the Chinese economy were unchanged or even improved due to interventions by central authorities -- driving this years forecast up 0.1 to 6.6 per cent -- the heavy reliance on credit to drive growth could create instability. The recent appreciation of the Yen is likely to counteract an announced two-year delay in hiking a consumption tax in Japan. This has slowed the forecast growth in that countrys already anemic economy, with the IMF revising it downward to just 0.3 per cent, to be followed by a bare 0.1 per cent expansion in 2017. (Reuters)

IMF: Brexit to cost Britain nearly 1% growth in 2017

Britain&#39;s new foreign minister Boris Johnson has given up his lucrative newspaper column, which he had used for years to mock world leaders, his spokesman said today. 
 
The leading Brexit campaigner was paid &pound;250,000 ($330,000, 300,000 euros) a year for his weekly article in The Daily Telegraph broadsheet which he continued writing during his eight-year tenure as mayor of London. 
 
He used the column to showcase his sharp wit, but some of his barbs, including comparing White House hopeful Hillary Clinton to a &quot;sadistic nurse&quot;, came back to haunt him when he was named foreign secretary last week. 
 
Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office following the June-23 referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union, stunned observers by naming gaffe-prone Johnson as her top diplomat. 
 
His new job comes with a salary of &pound;135,527 a year, which includes &pound;74,962 for being a Member of Parliament. 
 
&quot;Whilst Mr Johnson has enjoyed a close working relationship with The Daily Telegraph for over 20 years, it would not be appropriate for him to continue writing his long-standing column for the newspaper given his new role as foreign secretary,&quot; his spokesman said. 
 
When asked if May had told Johnson to give up the column, the Prime Minister&#39;s spokeswoman said only that it was his decision. 
 
&quot;Boris has been an outstanding columnist for The Daily Telegraph for many years, with a legion of devoted readers,&quot; said Telegraph Media Group editor Chris Evans, adding that he wished him well in his new job. 
 
Johnson, who stepped down as London mayor in May, was in Brussels today for his first talks with EU counterparts. 
 
The fifty-two-year-old was also working on a book on Shakespeare that was due to be published in October, but has now been postponed &quot;for the forseeable future&quot;, publishers Hodder and Stoughton said. 
 
Johnson has received an advance payment of about &pound;90,000 for the book, but it is thought unlikely that he will have to repay it as the commission has not been withdrawn. 
 
&quot;Hodder and Stoughton confirm that they are postponing publication of Boris Johnson&#39;s &#39;Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius&#39;,&quot; the publishers said in a statement. 
 
Documents released earlier this year showed Johnson earned &pound;987,097 from his Telegraph column over the past four years, while book royalties brought in a further &pound;469,385. 
 
In 2009, Johnson described his Telegraph earnings as &quot;chicken feed&quot;. 
 
 
(AFP)

Johnson had compared White House hopeful Hillary Clinton to a "sadistic nurse" in his column meant to showcase his 'sharp' wit

Britain's new foreign minister Boris Johnson has given up his lucrative newspaper column, which he had used for years to mock world leaders, his spokesman said today. The leading Brexit campaigner was paid £250,000 ($330,000, 300,000 euros) a year for his weekly article in The Daily Telegraph broadsheet which he continued writing during his eight-year tenure as mayor of London. He used the column to showcase his sharp wit, but some of his barbs, including comparing White House hopeful Hillary Clinton to a "sadistic nurse", came back to haunt him when he was named foreign secretary last week. Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office following the June-23 referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union, stunned observers by naming gaffe-prone Johnson as her top diplomat. His new job comes with a salary of £135,527 a year, which includes £74,962 for being a Member of Parliament. "Whilst Mr Johnson has enjoyed a close working relationship with The Daily Telegraph for over 20 years, it would not be appropriate for him to continue writing his long-standing column for the newspaper given his new role as foreign secretary," his spokesman said. When asked if May had told Johnson to give up the column, the Prime Minister's spokeswoman said only that it was his decision. "Boris has been an outstanding columnist for The Daily Telegraph for many years, with a legion of devoted readers," said Telegraph Media Group editor Chris Evans, adding that he wished him well in his new job. Johnson, who stepped down as London mayor in May, was in Brussels today for his first talks with EU counterparts. The fifty-two-year-old was also working on a book on Shakespeare that was due to be published in October, but has now been postponed "for the forseeable future", publishers Hodder and Stoughton said. Johnson has received an advance payment of about £90,000 for the book, but it is thought unlikely that he will have to repay it as the commission has not been withdrawn. "Hodder and Stoughton confirm that they are postponing publication of Boris Johnson's 'Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius'," the publishers said in a statement. Documents released earlier this year showed Johnson earned £987,097 from his Telegraph column over the past four years, while book royalties brought in a further £469,385. In 2009, Johnson described his Telegraph earnings as "chicken feed". (AFP)

Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson quits controversial newspaper column

Davis Cup holders Britain edged into a 2-1 lead in Serbia after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot won Saturday&#39;s doubles. 
 
Rain meant only one of Friday&#39;s two scheduled singles were completed but Serbia quickly squared up the quarter-final on day two as Dusan Lajovic thrashed James Ward 6-1 6-3 6-2. 
 
However, Murray and Inglot were too strong for veteran Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic, winning 6-1 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 to put Britain one rubber away from the semi-finals. 
 
Serbia are without world number one Novak Djokovic while Wimbledon champion Andy Murray travelled with his British teammates, but will not feature in the tie. 
 
In other action Argentina lead Italy 2-1 in Pesaro while Wimbledon doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won Saturday&#39;s doubles to give France a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic. 
 
The US lead Croatia 2-0 in the other World Group tie. 
 
(Reuters)

Britain's Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot won Saturday's doubles match

Davis Cup holders Britain edged into a 2-1 lead in Serbia after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot won Saturday's doubles. Rain meant only one of Friday's two scheduled singles were completed but Serbia quickly squared up the quarter-final on day two as Dusan Lajovic thrashed James Ward 6-1 6-3 6-2. However, Murray and Inglot were too strong for veteran Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic, winning 6-1 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 to put Britain one rubber away from the semi-finals. Serbia are without world number one Novak Djokovic while Wimbledon champion Andy Murray travelled with his British teammates, but will not feature in the tie. In other action Argentina lead Italy 2-1 in Pesaro while Wimbledon doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won Saturday's doubles to give France a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic. The US lead Croatia 2-0 in the other World Group tie. (Reuters)

Davis Cup: Britain take 2-1 lead over Serbia in quarter-final

Theresa May took over as Britain&#39;s new prime minister on Wednesday charged with pulling the country out of the EU, and sprung a surprise by making top Brexit campaigner&nbsp;Boris&nbsp;Johnson foreign secretary. 
 
May replaced David Cameron after he stood down following the seismic June 23 vote to leave the European Union, which sparked three weeks of intense political turmoil and volatility on the financial markets. 
 
May, who had supported Britain&#39;s continued EU membership, appointed leading &quot;Leave&quot; campaigner Johnson to a senior cabinet post while moving quickly to heal divisions sparked by the referendum. 
 
But the decision to name Johnson, the eccentric former London mayor, to the high-profile post of representing Britain to the rest of the world&nbsp;has already proved controversial. 
 
Johnson led the Brexit camp to victory, antagonising many EU leaders in the process, but dismayed supporters by backing out of the race to succeed Cameron at the last minute. 
 
May ditched finance minister George Osborne, Cameron&#39;s closest ally, and appointed former foreign secretary Philip Hammond to the job instead, charging him with the task of calming fears over the potential damage of leaving Britain&#39;s biggest market. 
 
Eurosceptic former ministers David Davis and Liam Fox were appointed respectively as Brexit negotiator and minister for international trade, two new posts reflecting changed priorities after the referendum. 
 
EU leaders are pressing for a swift divorce following the Brexit vote, which sent shock&nbsp;waves around the world. 
 
May had a phone call late Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who invited her to visit, followed by calls with the French and Irish leaders, a Downing Street spokeswoman said. 
 
May emphasised her commitment to delivering Brexit but &quot;explained that we would need some time to prepare for these negotiations and spoke of her hope that these could be conducted in a constructive and positive spirit&quot;, the spokeswoman said of the calls. 
 
&#39;Burning injustice&#39;&nbsp; 
 
May, the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, has repeatedly said that &quot;Brexit means Brexit&quot;. 
 
But European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker insisted the issue must be addressed &quot;soon&quot;, a sentiment echoed by French President Francois Hollande in his call with May. 
 
After formally being invited to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II, May arrived at her new Downing Street residence with a promise to tackle &quot;burning injustice&quot;. 
 
&quot;Following the referendum we face a time of great national change,&quot; the 59-year-old told reporters, flanked by her banker husband, Philip. 
 
&quot;As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world. And we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us.&quot; 
 
May said keeping the &quot;precious&quot; United Kingdom together was also a priority after the referendum, with the devolved Scottish government threatening a second independence vote. 
 
Political stability 
 
May&#39;s appointment after a brief leadership contest in the governing centre-right Conservative Party brings some stability following a period of political disarray, which has also sparked a leadership challenge in the main opposition Labour Party. 
 
Investors will be watching her first days in office closely but with greater optimism as the value of the pound, which fell by up to 15 per&nbsp;cent against the dollar after the Brexit vote, rallied in recent days. 
 
On Thursday, the Bank of England will announce whether it will cut interest rates for the first time in more than seven years to curb the economic fallout from Brexit. 
 
May is something of an unknown quantity internationally, but European Council president Donald Tusk said he looked forward to a &quot;fruitful working relationship&quot; with her. 
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for &quot;constructive dialogue&quot; with Britain&#39;s new premier, while White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that US officials who had worked with May &quot;found her to be quite effective&quot;. 
 
May campaigned for the leadership as a safe pair of hands, after spending six years as home secretary, one of the toughest jobs in British politics. 
 
&#39;I was the future, once&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Earlier, Cameron had made his final statement in Downing Street, flanked by his wife Samantha and three children, where he wished Britain &quot;continued success&quot;. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s not been an easy journey and, of course, we&#39;ve not got every decision right, but I do believe today our country is much stronger,&quot; the 49-year-old said. 
 
Cameron had called the referendum and campaigned to stay in the EU in a bid to try to heal divisions in the Conservative ranks. He gambled, and he lost.&nbsp;In his final question-and-answer session in the House of Commons, Cameron echoed a line he used to launch himself in 2005, taunting Labour&#39;s then-prime minister Tony Blair. 
 
&quot;As I once said, I was the future, once,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)

Eurosceptic former ministers David Davis and Liam Fox were appointed?as Brexit negotiator and minister for international trade

Theresa May took over as Britain's new prime minister on Wednesday charged with pulling the country out of the EU, and sprung a surprise by making top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson foreign secretary. May replaced David Cameron after he stood down following the seismic June 23 vote to leave the European Union, which sparked three weeks of intense political turmoil and volatility on the financial markets. May, who had supported Britain's continued EU membership, appointed leading "Leave" campaigner Johnson to a senior cabinet post while moving quickly to heal divisions sparked by the referendum. But the decision to name Johnson, the eccentric former London mayor, to the high-profile post of representing Britain to the rest of the world has already proved controversial. Johnson led the Brexit camp to victory, antagonising many EU leaders in the process, but dismayed supporters by backing out of the race to succeed Cameron at the last minute. May ditched finance minister George Osborne, Cameron's closest ally, and appointed former foreign secretary Philip Hammond to the job instead, charging him with the task of calming fears over the potential damage of leaving Britain's biggest market. Eurosceptic former ministers David Davis and Liam Fox were appointed respectively as Brexit negotiator and minister for international trade, two new posts reflecting changed priorities after the referendum. EU leaders are pressing for a swift divorce following the Brexit vote, which sent shock waves around the world. May had a phone call late Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who invited her to visit, followed by calls with the French and Irish leaders, a Downing Street spokeswoman said. May emphasised her commitment to delivering Brexit but "explained that we would need some time to prepare for these negotiations and spoke of her hope that these could be conducted in a constructive and positive spirit", the spokeswoman said of the calls. 'Burning injustice' May, the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, has repeatedly said that "Brexit means Brexit". But European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker insisted the issue must be addressed "soon", a sentiment echoed by French President Francois Hollande in his call with May. After formally being invited to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II, May arrived at her new Downing Street residence with a promise to tackle "burning injustice". "Following the referendum we face a time of great national change," the 59-year-old told reporters, flanked by her banker husband, Philip. "As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world. And we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us." May said keeping the "precious" United Kingdom together was also a priority after the referendum, with the devolved Scottish government threatening a second independence vote. Political stability May's appointment after a brief leadership contest in the governing centre-right Conservative Party brings some stability following a period of political disarray, which has also sparked a leadership challenge in the main opposition Labour Party. Investors will be watching her first days in office closely but with greater optimism as the value of the pound, which fell by up to 15 per cent against the dollar after the Brexit vote, rallied in recent days. On Thursday, the Bank of England will announce whether it will cut interest rates for the first time in more than seven years to curb the economic fallout from Brexit. May is something of an unknown quantity internationally, but European Council president Donald Tusk said he looked forward to a "fruitful working relationship" with her. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for "constructive dialogue" with Britain's new premier, while White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that US officials who had worked with May "found her to be quite effective". May campaigned for the leadership as a safe pair of hands, after spending six years as home secretary, one of the toughest jobs in British politics. 'I was the future, once' Earlier, Cameron had made his final statement in Downing Street, flanked by his wife Samantha and three children, where he wished Britain "continued success". "It's not been an easy journey and, of course, we've not got every decision right, but I do believe today our country is much stronger," the 49-year-old said. Cameron had called the referendum and campaigned to stay in the EU in a bid to try to heal divisions in the Conservative ranks. He gambled, and he lost. In his final question-and-answer session in the House of Commons, Cameron echoed a line he used to launch himself in 2005, taunting Labour's then-prime minister Tony Blair. "As I once said, I was the future, once," he said. (AFP)

May takes charge as British PM, makes Boris Johnson foreign secretary

A second candidate joined the race today to try to unseat Britain&#39;s opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is battling a party revolt in the wake of the Brexit vote. 
 
&quot;I will stand in this election and I will do the decent thing and fight Jeremy Corbyn on the issues,&quot; Labour lawmaker Owen Smith told the BBC. 
 
He will join fellow MP Angela Eagle in trying to wrest the party leadership from the veteran socialist, who has refused to quit despite a major rebellion by his MPs. 
 
The winner of the contest, which will formally get underway with an announcement of the timetable on Thursday, is expected to be crowned in September. 
 
Smith said he had decided to stand after seeing a &quot;dramatic collapse of faith and confidence in Jeremy&quot; over the last couple of weeks. 
 
Corbyn accused of lacklustre leadership&nbsp; 
 
Many moderate Labour MPs have never reconciled themselves to Corbyn&#39;s election as leader last September, secured thanks to strong support among ordinary party members. 
 
They moved against him in the wake of Britain&#39;s shock June 23 vote to leave the European Union -- an outcome deplored by most of the parliamentary party. 
 
Three-quarters of Labour MPs backed a vote of no confidence in Corbyn on June 28, accusing him of lacklustre leadership in the campaign which culminated with many longtime Labour voters in underprivileged areas defying the party line and backing Brexit. 
 
Many party grandees also fear he would be unable to win a general election if one were called early, although incoming prime minister Theresa May, who takes over from David Cameron later today, has ruled out an early vote. 
 
Late Tuesday, Corbyn won a first victory over his critics after the party&#39;s executive committee ruled he would automatically be included on the leadership ballot. 
 
The decision means that -- unlike his challengers -- he does not need the required 51 nominations from Labour MPs or members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to stand. 
 
Smith was in his teens when joined Labour party&nbsp; 
 
Smith, a former BBC radio producer seen as more centrist than Corbyn, has only been a member of parliament since 2010, representing the Welsh constituency of Pontypridd. 
 
But the 46-year-old has been a member of the Labour party since he was 16, and was special advisor to Paul Murphy, the Labour government minister in charge of Wales and then Northern Ireland, between 2002 and 2005. 
 
After a stint working as a media advisor to pharmaceutical group Pfizer, he became an MP when Labour moved into opposition, and became its spokesman on Welsh affairs. 
 
He appeared in a list of possible candidates to replace outgoing leader Ed Miliband following Labour&#39;s second successive general election defeat last year. 
 
But he did not step forward then and was named shadow work and pensions minister under Corbyn in September 2015. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

Smith will join fellow MP Angela Eagle in bid to wrest party leadership from veteran socialist, who refused to quit despite a major rebel

A second candidate joined the race today to try to unseat Britain's opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is battling a party revolt in the wake of the Brexit vote. "I will stand in this election and I will do the decent thing and fight Jeremy Corbyn on the issues," Labour lawmaker Owen Smith told the BBC. He will join fellow MP Angela Eagle in trying to wrest the party leadership from the veteran socialist, who has refused to quit despite a major rebellion by his MPs. The winner of the contest, which will formally get underway with an announcement of the timetable on Thursday, is expected to be crowned in September. Smith said he had decided to stand after seeing a "dramatic collapse of faith and confidence in Jeremy" over the last couple of weeks. Corbyn accused of lacklustre leadership Many moderate Labour MPs have never reconciled themselves to Corbyn's election as leader last September, secured thanks to strong support among ordinary party members. They moved against him in the wake of Britain's shock June 23 vote to leave the European Union -- an outcome deplored by most of the parliamentary party. Three-quarters of Labour MPs backed a vote of no confidence in Corbyn on June 28, accusing him of lacklustre leadership in the campaign which culminated with many longtime Labour voters in underprivileged areas defying the party line and backing Brexit. Many party grandees also fear he would be unable to win a general election if one were called early, although incoming prime minister Theresa May, who takes over from David Cameron later today, has ruled out an early vote. Late Tuesday, Corbyn won a first victory over his critics after the party's executive committee ruled he would automatically be included on the leadership ballot. The decision means that -- unlike his challengers -- he does not need the required 51 nominations from Labour MPs or members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to stand. Smith was in his teens when joined Labour party Smith, a former BBC radio producer seen as more centrist than Corbyn, has only been a member of parliament since 2010, representing the Welsh constituency of Pontypridd. But the 46-year-old has been a member of the Labour party since he was 16, and was special advisor to Paul Murphy, the Labour government minister in charge of Wales and then Northern Ireland, between 2002 and 2005. After a stint working as a media advisor to pharmaceutical group Pfizer, he became an MP when Labour moved into opposition, and became its spokesman on Welsh affairs. He appeared in a list of possible candidates to replace outgoing leader Ed Miliband following Labour's second successive general election defeat last year. But he did not step forward then and was named shadow work and pensions minister under Corbyn in September 2015. (AFP)

Power struggle in Labour party heats up, Owen Smith joins race to unseat Corbyn

Gold saw its biggest one-day fall in three weeks yesterday as global equities rallied on easing political uncertainty in Britain and hopes for more economic stimulus, which in turn curbed demand for assets perceived as safe havens. 
 
Spot gold fell as much as 1.9 pe rcent to $1,329.75 an ounce and was down 1.6 pct at $1,332.86 by 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT).&nbsp; 
The most active US gold futures for August delivery settled down 1.6 per cent at $1,335.30 per ounce.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Tensions in Britain are easing for now, as the country will soon have a new Prime Minister,&quot; ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto de Casa said, referring to incoming Prime Minister, Theresa May, who will replace David Cameron on Wednesday. 
 
&quot;With the British pound gaining some ground, demand for gold and other safe havens is decreasing,&quot; he said. 
 
Gold has gained about $100 an ounce since Britain voted recently to leave the European Union, with worried investors piling their cash into safe-haven assets.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The UK has a leader and we almost have the outlines of a plan,&quot; said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist for US Bank Wealth&nbsp;Management in Seattle, describing a &quot;risk-on day&quot; pressuring prices despite a weak U.S. dollar. 
 
Profit-taking and new highs in the US stock market also weighed on bullion, Haworth said. 
 
Major US stock indexes set record intraday highs on Tuesday as optimism about the world economy and upbeat corporate results from Alcoa boosted risk appetite, while European shares rose for a fourth straight day.&nbsp; 
 
Japan&#39;s ruling coalition fanned expectations of more fiscal stimulus, while the Bank of England could cut rates as soon as Thursday following its monthly policy meeting. 
 
&quot;The additional stimulus packages will continue to create a challenging environment for investors looking for a return because they are not getting it through bonds and as long as we have that scenario, then the alternatives are currently stocks but also precious metals,&quot; 
Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said. 
 
Markets were also assessing whether the latest US jobs data, which was stronger than expected, has boosted the prospects for an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve. 
 
The European Central Bank will not ease monetary policy any further at its meeting next week, according to an overwhelming majority of respondents in a Reuters poll of euro money market traders. 
Silver was down 0.65 per cent at $20.13 an ounce.&nbsp; 
 
Platinum fell for the first time in two weeks, down 1.14 per cent at $1,087. Palladium rose 1 per cent to $627.50. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Gold has gained about $100 an ounce since Brexit but UK is now hoping for more economic stimulus?as it welcomes new Prime Minister

Gold saw its biggest one-day fall in three weeks yesterday as global equities rallied on easing political uncertainty in Britain and hopes for more economic stimulus, which in turn curbed demand for assets perceived as safe havens. Spot gold fell as much as 1.9 pe rcent to $1,329.75 an ounce and was down 1.6 pct at $1,332.86 by 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT). The most active US gold futures for August delivery settled down 1.6 per cent at $1,335.30 per ounce. "Tensions in Britain are easing for now, as the country will soon have a new Prime Minister," ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto de Casa said, referring to incoming Prime Minister, Theresa May, who will replace David Cameron on Wednesday. "With the British pound gaining some ground, demand for gold and other safe havens is decreasing," he said. Gold has gained about $100 an ounce since Britain voted recently to leave the European Union, with worried investors piling their cash into safe-haven assets. "The UK has a leader and we almost have the outlines of a plan," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist for US Bank Wealth Management in Seattle, describing a "risk-on day" pressuring prices despite a weak U.S. dollar. Profit-taking and new highs in the US stock market also weighed on bullion, Haworth said. Major US stock indexes set record intraday highs on Tuesday as optimism about the world economy and upbeat corporate results from Alcoa boosted risk appetite, while European shares rose for a fourth straight day. Japan's ruling coalition fanned expectations of more fiscal stimulus, while the Bank of England could cut rates as soon as Thursday following its monthly policy meeting. "The additional stimulus packages will continue to create a challenging environment for investors looking for a return because they are not getting it through bonds and as long as we have that scenario, then the alternatives are currently stocks but also precious metals," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said. Markets were also assessing whether the latest US jobs data, which was stronger than expected, has boosted the prospects for an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve. The European Central Bank will not ease monetary policy any further at its meeting next week, according to an overwhelming majority of respondents in a Reuters poll of euro money market traders. Silver was down 0.65 per cent at $20.13 an ounce. Platinum fell for the first time in two weeks, down 1.14 per cent at $1,087. Palladium rose 1 per cent to $627.50. (Reuters)

Gold sees biggest one-day fall in 3 weeks as pound gains ground

Jim Charlesworth has no doubts about the abilities of his local MP and neighbour Theresa May. &quot;She will be the best Prime Minister this country has ever known,&quot; the 69-year-old said. 
 
May, who replaces David Cameron as Britain&#39;s next leader on Wednesday, is widely viewed as hard-working, tough but approachable in her constituency of Maidenhead in southern England. 
 
&quot;I can&#39;t say a wrong word about that lady -- she will get this country back on its feet,&quot; Charlesworth told AFP. 
 
May has represented Maidenhead, west of London, since 1997. She was re-elected as its Conservative MP last year with 65.8 per cent of the vote. 
 
&quot;I never voted for her but I do respect her, she is a very hard-working MP,&quot; said Anne Matkin, 64. 
 
She said May was &quot;always willing to listen and to help people&quot; despite, for the past six years as interior minister, holding one of the toughest jobs in government. 
 
&quot;She spends a lot of time in the area,&quot; adds Maxine Lattimer, a 46-year-old housewife with five children, describing her as a &quot;nice, caring woman&quot;. 
 
She recalled how May attended a recent parade to celebrate St George&#39;s Day, in honour of England&#39;s patron saint, along with her bodyguards. 
 
After six years as home secretary, she now has the tough task of uniting the country and leading Britain out of the European Union (EU). 
 
Lattimer has no doubt that May is the right person to lead the Brexit negotiations. 
 
&quot;She&#39;ll be very assertive, she&#39;ll work really really hard for the best interest of Britain. She won&#39;t shy away from difficult decisions -- she is tough when she needs to be,&quot; she said. 
 
&#39;Nothing murky&#39; 
 
The 60,000 residents of Maidenhead, many of whom commute to work in London, bucked the trend across England by voting for Britain to stay in the EU. 
 
May, too, had wanted Britain to stay in and although she kept a low national profile, residents here say she had campaigned locally for the status quo. 
 
&quot;People felt that she did her bit,&quot; said Martin Trepte, editor of the local newspaper, the Maidenhead Advertiser, which has a circulation of 17,000. 
 
May has repeatedly said that she will uphold the will of the public and that &quot;Brexit means Brexit&quot;. 
 
Trepte described her as a &quot;mature, grown-up politician&quot; who &quot;knows her stuff&quot; -- and says there are no skeletons in her closet, at least as far as he knows. 
 
&quot;In 19 years there has been nothing murky at all,&quot; he said. 
 
He added: &quot;We don&#39;t know too much about her. She&#39;s quite a private person. We know she goes to church regularly.&quot; 
 
May attends church in Sonning, a picturesque village on the banks of the River Thames where she lives with her husband Philip. 
 
Its charms have attracted other high-profile neighbours including Hollywood actor George Clooney and his wife Amal, and Led Zeppelin&#39;s Jimmy Page. 
 
&#39;Genuine and passionate&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Gil Cattermole, another of May&#39;s neighbours, recalled popping in for a chat before the politician became home secretary and had to step up her security. 
 
&quot;I used to go around to her house and talk to her,&quot; said the 69-year-old, noting that when May now goes to church, she is accompanied by several armoured Range Rovers. 
 
At the Bull Inn, a pub where Clooney has been spotted, May is also well known -- although they expect to see less of her once she enters Downing Street. 
 
&quot;She&#39;s always been very charming, very nice to customers and staff. She seems sort of genuine and very passionate about her beliefs,&quot; owner Christine Mason said. 
 
&quot;I bumped in her at the petrol station the other week. She is still relaxed doing the normal things in life. Always says &#39;hello&#39; -- nice lady.&quot; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Britain's new Prime Minister is widely viewed as hard-working, tough but approachable in her constituency of Maidenhead in southern England

Jim Charlesworth has no doubts about the abilities of his local MP and neighbour Theresa May. "She will be the best Prime Minister this country has ever known," the 69-year-old said. May, who replaces David Cameron as Britain's next leader on Wednesday, is widely viewed as hard-working, tough but approachable in her constituency of Maidenhead in southern England. "I can't say a wrong word about that lady -- she will get this country back on its feet," Charlesworth told AFP. May has represented Maidenhead, west of London, since 1997. She was re-elected as its Conservative MP last year with 65.8 per cent of the vote. "I never voted for her but I do respect her, she is a very hard-working MP," said Anne Matkin, 64. She said May was "always willing to listen and to help people" despite, for the past six years as interior minister, holding one of the toughest jobs in government. "She spends a lot of time in the area," adds Maxine Lattimer, a 46-year-old housewife with five children, describing her as a "nice, caring woman". She recalled how May attended a recent parade to celebrate St George's Day, in honour of England's patron saint, along with her bodyguards. After six years as home secretary, she now has the tough task of uniting the country and leading Britain out of the European Union (EU). Lattimer has no doubt that May is the right person to lead the Brexit negotiations. "She'll be very assertive, she'll work really really hard for the best interest of Britain. She won't shy away from difficult decisions -- she is tough when she needs to be," she said. 'Nothing murky' The 60,000 residents of Maidenhead, many of whom commute to work in London, bucked the trend across England by voting for Britain to stay in the EU. May, too, had wanted Britain to stay in and although she kept a low national profile, residents here say she had campaigned locally for the status quo. "People felt that she did her bit," said Martin Trepte, editor of the local newspaper, the Maidenhead Advertiser, which has a circulation of 17,000. May has repeatedly said that she will uphold the will of the public and that "Brexit means Brexit". Trepte described her as a "mature, grown-up politician" who "knows her stuff" -- and says there are no skeletons in her closet, at least as far as he knows. "In 19 years there has been nothing murky at all," he said. He added: "We don't know too much about her. She's quite a private person. We know she goes to church regularly." May attends church in Sonning, a picturesque village on the banks of the River Thames where she lives with her husband Philip. Its charms have attracted other high-profile neighbours including Hollywood actor George Clooney and his wife Amal, and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. 'Genuine and passionate' Gil Cattermole, another of May's neighbours, recalled popping in for a chat before the politician became home secretary and had to step up her security. "I used to go around to her house and talk to her," said the 69-year-old, noting that when May now goes to church, she is accompanied by several armoured Range Rovers. At the Bull Inn, a pub where Clooney has been spotted, May is also well known -- although they expect to see less of her once she enters Downing Street. "She's always been very charming, very nice to customers and staff. She seems sort of genuine and very passionate about her beliefs," owner Christine Mason said. "I bumped in her at the petrol station the other week. She is still relaxed doing the normal things in life. Always says 'hello' -- nice lady." (AFP)

May's neighbours sing her praises

Theresa May became Britain&#39;s new prime minister on Wednesday, promising to carve out a bold new future in the world as she embarks on the monumental task of leading the country out of the European Union. 
 
May, 59 assumed office after an audience with Queen Elizabeth and drove straight to her new home of 10 Downing Street, vacated hours earlier by David Cameron. 
 
&quot;We will rise to the challenge. As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us,&quot; she said. 
 
Cameron stepped down after Britons rejected his entreaties and voted to leave the EU in a referendum last month, severely undermining European efforts to forge greater unity and creating economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bloc. 
 
May must try to limit the damage to British trade and investment as she renegotiates the country&#39;s ties with its 27 EU partners. She will also attempt to unite a divided ruling Conservative party and a fractured nation in which many, on the evidence of the vote, feel angry with the political elite and left behind by the forces of globalisation. 
 
Acknowledging the struggles faced by many Britons, May declared: &quot;The government I lead will be driven not be the interests of the privileged few, but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives. 
 
&quot;When we take the big calls we&#39;ll think not of the powerful but you, when we pass new laws we&#39;ll listen not to the mighty but to you, when it comes to taxes we&#39;ll prioritise not the wealthy but you.&quot; 
 
The United States congratulated May and said it was confident in her ability to steer Britain through the Brexit negotiations. 
 
&quot;Based on the public comments we&#39;ve seen from the incoming prime minister, she intends to pursue a course that&#39;s consistent with the prescription that President Obama has offered,&quot; White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. 
 
An official photograph showed May curtseying to a smiling Queen Elizabeth, for whom she is the 13th prime minister in a line that started with Winston Churchill. 
 
She is also Britain&#39;s second female head of government after Margaret Thatcher. 
 
Divorce talks 
EU leaders, keen to move forward after the shock of &#39;Brexit&#39;, want May to launch formal divorce proceedings as soon as possible to help resolve the uncertainty. 
 
But she has said the process should not be launched before the end of year, to give time for Britain to draw up its negotiating strategy. 
 
Although she favoured Britain remaining in Europe, May has repeatedly declared that &quot;Brexit means Brexit&quot; and that there can be no attempt to reverse the referendum outcome. 
 
The shock vote partly reflected discontent with EU rules on freedom of movement that have contributed to record-high immigration - an issue on which May, as interior minister for the past six years, is politically vulnerable. 
 
But EU leaders have made clear that free movement is a fundamental principle that goes hand-in-hand with access to the bloc&#39;s tariff-free single market, a stance that will hugely complicate May&#39;s task in hammering out new terms of trade. 
 
&quot;My advice to my successor, who is a brilliant negotiator, is that we should try to be as close to the European Union as we can be for the benefits of trade, cooperation and of security,&quot; Cameron told parliament in his last appearance before resigning. 
 
Appearing later in Downing Street with his wife Samantha and their three children, he delivered his parting remarks to the nation after six years dominated by the Europe question and the aftermath of the global financial crisis. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s not been an easy journey and of course we&#39;ve not got every decision right,&quot; he said, &quot;but I do believe that today our country is much stronger.&quot; 
 
In parliament, Cameron took the opportunity to trumpet his government&#39;s achievements in generating one of the fastest growth rates among western economies, chopping the budget deficit, creating 2.5 million jobs and legalising gay marriage. 
 
Yet his legacy will be overshadowed by his failed referendum gamble, which he had hoped would keep Britain at the heart of a reformed EU. 
 
&#39;Our Angela Merkel&#39; 
May is seen by her supporters as a safe pair of hands to steer the country through the disruptive Brexit process. Colleagues describe her as cautious, unflappable and intensely private. 
 
&quot;I think around the cabinet table yesterday the feeling was that we have our Angela Merkel,&quot; said Jeremy Hunt, health secretary in Cameron&#39;s team which met for the last time on Tuesday. 
 
&quot;We have an incredibly tough, shrewd, determined and principled person to lead those negotiations for Britain,&quot; Hunt told Sky News television. 
 
German Chancellor Merkel will be May&#39;s most important counterpart on the continent as the process unfolds. Both women are renowned for their firmness, pragmatism and discipline. 
 
The new British leader is expected to immediately start putting together a new cabinet, a complex political balancing act in which she will try to satisfy opposing camps in her party. 
 
She has said she plans to set up a new government department to lead the process of quitting the EU which would be headed by someone who had campaigned on the Leave side. 
 
Financial markets, which had been extremely volatile since the referendum, reacted positively to news on Monday that May would become prime minister earlier than expected. 
 
Stock markets traded within sight of their highest levels of the year as the prospect of stimulative economic policy across the developed world eased immediate concerns over the impact of the Brexit vote. 
 
Economists predicted in a Reuters poll that the Bank of England would halve its main interest rate to 0.25 percent on Thursday in a pre-emptive strike to try to ward off a recession and reassure markets. 
 
(Reuters)

She becomes the country's second female head of government after Margaret Thatcher

Theresa May became Britain's new prime minister on Wednesday, promising to carve out a bold new future in the world as she embarks on the monumental task of leading the country out of the European Union. May, 59 assumed office after an audience with Queen Elizabeth and drove straight to her new home of 10 Downing Street, vacated hours earlier by David Cameron. "We will rise to the challenge. As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us," she said. Cameron stepped down after Britons rejected his entreaties and voted to leave the EU in a referendum last month, severely undermining European efforts to forge greater unity and creating economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bloc. May must try to limit the damage to British trade and investment as she renegotiates the country's ties with its 27 EU partners. She will also attempt to unite a divided ruling Conservative party and a fractured nation in which many, on the evidence of the vote, feel angry with the political elite and left behind by the forces of globalisation. Acknowledging the struggles faced by many Britons, May declared: "The government I lead will be driven not be the interests of the privileged few, but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives. "When we take the big calls we'll think not of the powerful but you, when we pass new laws we'll listen not to the mighty but to you, when it comes to taxes we'll prioritise not the wealthy but you." The United States congratulated May and said it was confident in her ability to steer Britain through the Brexit negotiations. "Based on the public comments we've seen from the incoming prime minister, she intends to pursue a course that's consistent with the prescription that President Obama has offered," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. An official photograph showed May curtseying to a smiling Queen Elizabeth, for whom she is the 13th prime minister in a line that started with Winston Churchill. She is also Britain's second female head of government after Margaret Thatcher. Divorce talks EU leaders, keen to move forward after the shock of 'Brexit', want May to launch formal divorce proceedings as soon as possible to help resolve the uncertainty. But she has said the process should not be launched before the end of year, to give time for Britain to draw up its negotiating strategy. Although she favoured Britain remaining in Europe, May has repeatedly declared that "Brexit means Brexit" and that there can be no attempt to reverse the referendum outcome. The shock vote partly reflected discontent with EU rules on freedom of movement that have contributed to record-high immigration - an issue on which May, as interior minister for the past six years, is politically vulnerable. But EU leaders have made clear that free movement is a fundamental principle that goes hand-in-hand with access to the bloc's tariff-free single market, a stance that will hugely complicate May's task in hammering out new terms of trade. "My advice to my successor, who is a brilliant negotiator, is that we should try to be as close to the European Union as we can be for the benefits of trade, cooperation and of security," Cameron told parliament in his last appearance before resigning. Appearing later in Downing Street with his wife Samantha and their three children, he delivered his parting remarks to the nation after six years dominated by the Europe question and the aftermath of the global financial crisis. "It's not been an easy journey and of course we've not got every decision right," he said, "but I do believe that today our country is much stronger." In parliament, Cameron took the opportunity to trumpet his government's achievements in generating one of the fastest growth rates among western economies, chopping the budget deficit, creating 2.5 million jobs and legalising gay marriage. Yet his legacy will be overshadowed by his failed referendum gamble, which he had hoped would keep Britain at the heart of a reformed EU. 'Our Angela Merkel' May is seen by her supporters as a safe pair of hands to steer the country through the disruptive Brexit process. Colleagues describe her as cautious, unflappable and intensely private. "I think around the cabinet table yesterday the feeling was that we have our Angela Merkel," said Jeremy Hunt, health secretary in Cameron's team which met for the last time on Tuesday. "We have an incredibly tough, shrewd, determined and principled person to lead those negotiations for Britain," Hunt told Sky News television. German Chancellor Merkel will be May's most important counterpart on the continent as the process unfolds. Both women are renowned for their firmness, pragmatism and discipline. The new British leader is expected to immediately start putting together a new cabinet, a complex political balancing act in which she will try to satisfy opposing camps in her party. She has said she plans to set up a new government department to lead the process of quitting the EU which would be headed by someone who had campaigned on the Leave side. Financial markets, which had been extremely volatile since the referendum, reacted positively to news on Monday that May would become prime minister earlier than expected. Stock markets traded within sight of their highest levels of the year as the prospect of stimulative economic policy across the developed world eased immediate concerns over the impact of the Brexit vote. Economists predicted in a Reuters poll that the Bank of England would halve its main interest rate to 0.25 percent on Thursday in a pre-emptive strike to try to ward off a recession and reassure markets. (Reuters)

Theresa May curtsies before Queen, arises Britain's Prime Minister

The Bank of England (BoE) is mulling whether to cut interest rates for the first time in over seven years to curb economic fallout from Britain`s vote to exit the European Union (EU). 
 
The BoE on Thursday concludes its first interest-rate meeting since Britain voted on June 23 to exit the EU and subsequent comments by governor Mark Carney that &quot;some monetary policy easing will likely be required over the summer&quot;. 
 
Jonathan Loynes, economist at Capital Economics research group, said &quot;given that the biggest near-term threat to the economy is uncertainty and its adverse effects on confidence, an interest rate cut could help to re-assure households and markets following the referendum result&quot;. 
 
Political uncertainity gripped Britain after Brexit 
 
While markets are pricing in a cut as early as this week, some analysts believe a drop in the BoE&#39;s main lending rate from 0.50 percent to a new record-low of 0.25 percent or even zero may not now occur until August. 
 
This they say is owing to Theresa May`s quick appointment as Prime Minister having reduced some of the political uncertainty that has gripped Britain since the shock referendum result. 
 
Whether or not a rate cut occurs Thursday or in August, markets expect that by the end of the British summer, the BoE will unveil a fresh means of stimulating the economy, as the government heads into tough negotiations on quitting the EU. 
 
Analysts suggest there could for example be some more cash stimulus pumped around the British economy to encourage lending by commercial banks. 
 
The central bank&#39;s quantitative easing (QE) programme, launched alongside record-low interest rates during the global financial crisis, has enabled an additional &pound;375 billion ($494 billion, 445 billion euros) to move through the economy. 
 
BoE has also vowed to pump&nbsp; &pound;250 billion into markets&nbsp; 
 
The BoE has already taken steps to calm fears over Brexit&#39;s economic fallout when it last week relaxed commercial banks&#39; capital requirements to boost lending to businesses and households. 
 
The move -- which came as the bank&#39;s governor Mark Carney warned that risks to financial stability were materialising following the referendum result -- will boost lending by up to &pound;150 billion and reduce banks&#39; regulatory capital buffers by &pound;5.7 billion. 
 
Addressing MPs for a regular update Tuesday, Carney said demand for credit was set to drop because of uncertainty created by Brexit, adding that the &pound;150 billion lending-boost would be &quot;part of a series of measures&quot; going forward. 
 
Since Brexit, the BoE has also vowed to pump at least &pound;250 billion into money markets if needed to prevent a damaging credit crunch. 
 
Finance minister George Osborne has meanwhile said that the Treasury could expand the so-called Funding for Lending scheme, which provides cheap finance to banks in exchange for increased lending. 
 
&quot;After all the volatility of the past few weeks, odds have increased sharply that the Bank of England could well cut interest rates&quot; on Thursday, said Michael Hewson, chief analyst at trading group CMC Markets. 
 
&quot;It is this expectation that has helped push the pound to new 31-year lows against the US dollar.&quot; 
 
Hewson added, however, that the rate could now remain on hold Thursday as &quot;the political picture has become much more stable&quot;. 
 
David Cameron on Tuesday chaired his final cabinet meeting after six years as Britain`s Prime Minister, with incoming premier May preparing to form a new government to negotiate Britain`s exit from the EU. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

This would be the first interest rate cut in seven years

The Bank of England (BoE) is mulling whether to cut interest rates for the first time in over seven years to curb economic fallout from Britain`s vote to exit the European Union (EU). The BoE on Thursday concludes its first interest-rate meeting since Britain voted on June 23 to exit the EU and subsequent comments by governor Mark Carney that "some monetary policy easing will likely be required over the summer". Jonathan Loynes, economist at Capital Economics research group, said "given that the biggest near-term threat to the economy is uncertainty and its adverse effects on confidence, an interest rate cut could help to re-assure households and markets following the referendum result". Political uncertainity gripped Britain after Brexit While markets are pricing in a cut as early as this week, some analysts believe a drop in the BoE's main lending rate from 0.50 percent to a new record-low of 0.25 percent or even zero may not now occur until August. This they say is owing to Theresa May`s quick appointment as Prime Minister having reduced some of the political uncertainty that has gripped Britain since the shock referendum result. Whether or not a rate cut occurs Thursday or in August, markets expect that by the end of the British summer, the BoE will unveil a fresh means of stimulating the economy, as the government heads into tough negotiations on quitting the EU. Analysts suggest there could for example be some more cash stimulus pumped around the British economy to encourage lending by commercial banks. The central bank's quantitative easing (QE) programme, launched alongside record-low interest rates during the global financial crisis, has enabled an additional £375 billion ($494 billion, 445 billion euros) to move through the economy. BoE has also vowed to pump £250 billion into markets The BoE has already taken steps to calm fears over Brexit's economic fallout when it last week relaxed commercial banks' capital requirements to boost lending to businesses and households. The move -- which came as the bank's governor Mark Carney warned that risks to financial stability were materialising following the referendum result -- will boost lending by up to £150 billion and reduce banks' regulatory capital buffers by £5.7 billion. Addressing MPs for a regular update Tuesday, Carney said demand for credit was set to drop because of uncertainty created by Brexit, adding that the £150 billion lending-boost would be "part of a series of measures" going forward. Since Brexit, the BoE has also vowed to pump at least £250 billion into money markets if needed to prevent a damaging credit crunch. Finance minister George Osborne has meanwhile said that the Treasury could expand the so-called Funding for Lending scheme, which provides cheap finance to banks in exchange for increased lending. "After all the volatility of the past few weeks, odds have increased sharply that the Bank of England could well cut interest rates" on Thursday, said Michael Hewson, chief analyst at trading group CMC Markets. "It is this expectation that has helped push the pound to new 31-year lows against the US dollar." Hewson added, however, that the rate could now remain on hold Thursday as "the political picture has become much more stable". David Cameron on Tuesday chaired his final cabinet meeting after six years as Britain`s Prime Minister, with incoming premier May preparing to form a new government to negotiate Britain`s exit from the EU. (AFP)

Bank of England mulls rate cut to curb Brexit fallout

David Cameron chairs his final cabinet meeting today after six years as Britain`s Prime Minister, with incoming premier Theresa May preparing to form a new government to deliver Brexit.&nbsp; 
 
Cameron&#39;s last full day as the premier came sooner than expected after dramatic twists in the race to replace him led to his swift exit from power less than three weeks after the nation&#39;s seismic vote to quit the European Union (EU). 
 
Home Secretary May, the interior minister, was declared the new leader of the governing centre-right Conservative Party on Monday after junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, her only remaining challenger for the post, withdrew from the contest. 
 
Next on agenda: Breaking ties with EU&nbsp; 
 
Cameron announced he would step down after leading the failed campaign for Britain to remain in the EU in the June 23 referendum. 
 
May will immediately face questions on when she plans to trigger Article 50 -- the formal procedure for withdrawal from the EU -- which would set a two-year deadline for completing exit negotiations. 
 
While May supported Britain staying in the bloc, she cut a low profile during the referendum campaign and insists she will honour the popular vote, stressing on Monday: &quot;Brexit means Brexit&quot;. 
 
May also noted the need &quot;to negotiate the best deal for Britain in leaving the EU&quot; in brief comments outside parliament. 
 
EU leaders have kept up the pressure on Britain, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying late Monday, &quot;The United Kingdom will need to quickly clarify how it wants its ties with the European Union to be in future.&quot; 
 
Cameron was to face MPs in parliament for a final time tomorrow in the weekly Prime Minister&#39;s questions session, before meeting Queen Elizabeth II to tender his resignation to the head of state. 
 
The monarch will call for May, the new leader of the majority party in parliament, to form a fresh government. 
 
May set to become Britain&#39;s &nbsp;second female PM 
 
May will become Britain&#39;s second female Prime Minister after 1980s Conservative titan Margaret Thatcher. 
 
The 59-year-old will have to keep Leave-supporting Conservative heavyweights onside if she is to heal the splits in the party caused by the referendum.The futures of leading pro-Brexit figureheads such as Leadsom, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and former London mayor Boris Johnson hang in the balance. 
 
May will also have to decide whether to keep top figures such as finance minister George Osborne and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in place. 
 
Corbyn faces leadership challenge 
 
Meanwhile, Tuesday was set to be a key date in the history of the main opposition Labour Party, whose embattled leader Jeremy Corbyn -- hugely popular with the party membership -- is facing a leadership challenge after losing the confidence of three quarters of Labour MPs. 
 
The party`s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) was to decide whether Corbyn would require nominations to stand in the contest after the party`s former business spokeswoman Angela Eagle announced her leadership challenge on Monday. 
 
The left-of-centre party&#39;s rulebook is ambiguous on what is required of a sitting leader if challenged. 
 
Corbyn is adamant his name should automatically be on the ballot: he would struggle to get the support of 20 percent of Labour MPs and members of the European Parliament required by Eagle. 
 
Lawyers for Jim Kennedy, a trade union member of the NEC, have written a letter to party general secretary Iain McNicol threatening legal action. 
 
&quot;We put you on the clearest notice that we will be instructed to apply to the High Court for immediate injunctive relief should Jeremy Corbyn`s name not go forward automatically to the ballot,&quot; it said. 
 
Corbyn lost confidence after his perceived half-hearted, lacklustre campaigning for Labour`s position of supporting the EU referendum Remain campaign. 
 
With so many Labour MPs in opposition to their leader, there is a risk of the party splitting if Corbyn makes it on the ballot and secures a repeat of September`s landslide victory. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

David Cameron's last full day as British Prime Minister came sooner than expected after dramatic twists in the race to replace him

David Cameron chairs his final cabinet meeting today after six years as Britain`s Prime Minister, with incoming premier Theresa May preparing to form a new government to deliver Brexit. Cameron's last full day as the premier came sooner than expected after dramatic twists in the race to replace him led to his swift exit from power less than three weeks after the nation's seismic vote to quit the European Union (EU). Home Secretary May, the interior minister, was declared the new leader of the governing centre-right Conservative Party on Monday after junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, her only remaining challenger for the post, withdrew from the contest. Next on agenda: Breaking ties with EU Cameron announced he would step down after leading the failed campaign for Britain to remain in the EU in the June 23 referendum. May will immediately face questions on when she plans to trigger Article 50 -- the formal procedure for withdrawal from the EU -- which would set a two-year deadline for completing exit negotiations. While May supported Britain staying in the bloc, she cut a low profile during the referendum campaign and insists she will honour the popular vote, stressing on Monday: "Brexit means Brexit". May also noted the need "to negotiate the best deal for Britain in leaving the EU" in brief comments outside parliament. EU leaders have kept up the pressure on Britain, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying late Monday, "The United Kingdom will need to quickly clarify how it wants its ties with the European Union to be in future." Cameron was to face MPs in parliament for a final time tomorrow in the weekly Prime Minister's questions session, before meeting Queen Elizabeth II to tender his resignation to the head of state. The monarch will call for May, the new leader of the majority party in parliament, to form a fresh government. May set to become Britain's second female PM May will become Britain's second female Prime Minister after 1980s Conservative titan Margaret Thatcher. The 59-year-old will have to keep Leave-supporting Conservative heavyweights onside if she is to heal the splits in the party caused by the referendum.The futures of leading pro-Brexit figureheads such as Leadsom, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and former London mayor Boris Johnson hang in the balance. May will also have to decide whether to keep top figures such as finance minister George Osborne and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in place. Corbyn faces leadership challenge Meanwhile, Tuesday was set to be a key date in the history of the main opposition Labour Party, whose embattled leader Jeremy Corbyn -- hugely popular with the party membership -- is facing a leadership challenge after losing the confidence of three quarters of Labour MPs. The party`s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) was to decide whether Corbyn would require nominations to stand in the contest after the party`s former business spokeswoman Angela Eagle announced her leadership challenge on Monday. The left-of-centre party's rulebook is ambiguous on what is required of a sitting leader if challenged. Corbyn is adamant his name should automatically be on the ballot: he would struggle to get the support of 20 percent of Labour MPs and members of the European Parliament required by Eagle. Lawyers for Jim Kennedy, a trade union member of the NEC, have written a letter to party general secretary Iain McNicol threatening legal action. "We put you on the clearest notice that we will be instructed to apply to the High Court for immediate injunctive relief should Jeremy Corbyn`s name not go forward automatically to the ballot," it said. Corbyn lost confidence after his perceived half-hearted, lacklustre campaigning for Labour`s position of supporting the EU referendum Remain campaign. With so many Labour MPs in opposition to their leader, there is a risk of the party splitting if Corbyn makes it on the ballot and secures a repeat of September`s landslide victory. (AFP)

Cameron holds last cabinet meet as May prepares to deliver Brexit

Interior minister&nbsp;Theresa&nbsp;May&nbsp;will become Britain&#39;s prime minister on Wednesday, with the task of steering its withdrawal from the European Union, after rival Andrea Leadsom abruptly terminated her disastrous leadership campaign.

May, 59, will succeed David Cameron, who announced he was stepping down after Britons&nbsp;voted last month to quit the EU. Britain&#39;s planned withdrawal has weakened the 28-nation bloc, created huge uncertainty over trade and investment, and shaken financial markets.

May&nbsp;and Leadsom had been due to contest a ballot of grassroots Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by September&nbsp;9. But Leadsom unexpectedly quit on Monday after a campaign dogged by ill-judged comments about her rival&#39;s lack of children and questions about whether she had exaggerated her CV.

&quot;I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become its leader,&quot; said&nbsp;May, who favoured remaining in the EU but has made clear there is no going back on the result of the June 23 referendum.

&quot;Brexit means Brexit, and we&#39;re going to make a success of it.&quot;

Earlier, Cameron told reporters in front of his 10 Downing Street residence that he expected to chair his last cabinet meeting on Tuesday and take questions in parliament on Wednesday before tendering his resignation to Queen Elizabeth.

&quot;So we will have a new prime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening,&quot; he said.

May&nbsp;will become Britain&#39;s second female prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher.

Her victory means that the complex process of extricating Britain from the EU will be led by someone from the losing side of the acrimonious referendum campaign. She has said Britain needs time to work out its negotiating strategy and should not initiate formal divorce proceedings before the end of the year.

In a speech earlier on Monday in the city of Birmingham,&nbsp;May&nbsp;said there could be no second referendum and no attempt to rejoin the EU by the back door.

&quot;As prime minister, I will make sure that we leave the European Union,&quot; she said.

The White House said US President Barack Obama was confident that the &quot;special relationship&quot; between the United States and Britain would continue after&nbsp;May&nbsp;becomes prime minister.

&nbsp;

Relative Unknown

Leadsom, 53, is a junior energy minister who has never served in cabinet and was barely known to the British public until she emerged as a prominent voice in the successful Leave campaign.

She had been strongly criticised over a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother meant she had more of a stake in the country&#39;s future than&nbsp;May, who has no children. Some Conservatives said they were disgusted by the remarks, for which Leadsom later apologised, while others said they showed naivety and a lack of judgment.

Leadsom told reporters she was pulling out of the race to avoid nine weeks of campaign uncertainty at a time when strong leadership was needed. She acknowledged that&nbsp;May&nbsp;had secured much greater backing in a vote of Conservative members of parliament last week.

&quot;I have ... concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well supported prime minister,&quot; she said. &quot;I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish&nbsp;Theresa&nbsp;May&nbsp;the very greatest success.&quot;

Graham Brady, head of the Conservative party committee in charge of the leadership contest, confirmed that&nbsp;May&nbsp;had been elected with immediate effect.

The pound, which has hit 31-year lows since the referendum on concern about potential damage to the British economy, bounced slightly on the news that the Conservative leadership question would be resolved much sooner than expected.

It was trading around $1.2970, up 0.1 per cent on the day but still down around 13 per cent since the day of the vote. The FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies rose 3.27 per cent.

&quot;Welcome news we have 1 candidate with overwhelming support to be next PM.&nbsp;Theresa&nbsp;Mayhas strength, integrity &amp; determination to do the job,&quot; finance minister George Osborne tweeted.

&nbsp;

Forging New Role

The 52-to-48 per cent vote to quit the EU after 43 years of membership was a stunning rebuke to Britain&#39;s political leaders and especially Cameron, who had argued that breaking away would bring economic disaster.

Britons ignored his warnings, swayed by the arguments of the Leave campaign that &#39;Brexit&#39; would enable them to regain &#39;independence&#39; from Brussels and clamp down on high immigration, something hard to achieve under EU rules allowing people to live and work anywhere in the bloc.

May&#39;s leadership hopes had appeared at risk of being damaged by her failure, in six years as interior minister, to bring immigration down, and the fact she found herself on the losing side of the referendum campaign.

But her two best-known rivals on the Leave side were felled by political back-stabbing when Justice Secretary Michael Gove brought down former London&nbsp;mayor Boris Johnson and was then punished for his perceived treachery by being eliminated from a ballot of Conservative MPs.

In her speech in Birmingham on Monday,&nbsp;May&nbsp;set out her vision for the economy, calling for &quot;a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few&quot;.

In a pitch for the political centre, she said she would prioritise more house-building, a crackdown on tax evasion by individuals and companies, lower energy costs and a narrowing of the &#39;unhealthy&#39; gap between the pay of employees and corporate bosses.

&quot;Under my leadership, the Conservative Party will put itself completely, absolutely, unequivocally, at the service of ordinary working people ... we will make Britain a country that works for everyone,&quot; she said.

&nbsp;

Labour Disarray

May&#39;s biggest challenge will be to map out the course of Britain&#39;s withdrawal, a process still clouded in uncertainty, and to sort out new terms of trade with the other 27 EU nations.

&quot;We will have difficult negotiations with Britain, it will not be easy,&quot; said German Chancellor Angela Merkel who insisted that Britain would not be able to get free access to the EU&#39;s single market without accepting free movement of people.

European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said: &quot;We should open the negotiations as quickly as possible in order to limit uncertainty.&quot;

More than 1000 British lawyers said in a letter to Cameron that members of parliament should decide whether Britain leaves the EU because the referendum was not legally binding.

Opposition members of parliament, responding to the impending appointment of&nbsp;May, demanded a general election.

&quot;It is crucial, given the instability caused by the Brexit vote, that the country has a democratically elected prime minister,&quot; Labour party election co-ordinator Jon Trickett said.

Labour too has been thrown into upheaval by the referendum, with leader Jeremy Corbyn widely criticised for failing to make a sufficiently passionate case in favour of staying in the EU.

Minutes before Leadsom&#39;s announcement, Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle launched a leadership challenge to Corbyn.

&quot;Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership that this party needs -- I believe I can,&quot; Eagle said.

Corbyn was elected last year with overwhelming support from grassroots Labour activists. He has ignored a vote of no confidence from the party&#39;s lawmakers, saying he has a responsibility to carry out that mandate.

(Reuters)

May, the second woman to become Britain's prime minister, will lead the country post its break off with the EU

Interior minister Theresa May will become Britain's prime minister on Wednesday, with the task of steering its withdrawal from the European Union, after rival Andrea Leadsom abruptly terminated her disastrous leadership campaign. May, 59, will succeed David Cameron, who announced he was stepping down after Britons voted last month to quit the EU. Britain's planned withdrawal has weakened the 28-nation bloc, created huge uncertainty over trade and investment, and shaken financial markets. May and Leadsom had been due to contest a ballot of grassroots Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by September 9. But Leadsom unexpectedly quit on Monday after a campaign dogged by ill-judged comments about her rival's lack of children and questions about whether she had exaggerated her CV. "I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become its leader," said May, who favoured remaining in the EU but has made clear there is no going back on the result of the June 23 referendum. "Brexit means Brexit, and we're going to make a success of it." Earlier, Cameron told reporters in front of his 10 Downing Street residence that he expected to chair his last cabinet meeting on Tuesday and take questions in parliament on Wednesday before tendering his resignation to Queen Elizabeth. "So we will have a new prime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening," he said. May will become Britain's second female prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher. Her victory means that the complex process of extricating Britain from the EU will be led by someone from the losing side of the acrimonious referendum campaign. She has said Britain needs time to work out its negotiating strategy and should not initiate formal divorce proceedings before the end of the year. In a speech earlier on Monday in the city of Birmingham, May said there could be no second referendum and no attempt to rejoin the EU by the back door. "As prime minister, I will make sure that we leave the European Union," she said. The White House said US President Barack Obama was confident that the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain would continue after May becomes prime minister. Relative Unknown Leadsom, 53, is a junior energy minister who has never served in cabinet and was barely known to the British public until she emerged as a prominent voice in the successful Leave campaign. She had been strongly criticised over a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother meant she had more of a stake in the country's future than May, who has no children. Some Conservatives said they were disgusted by the remarks, for which Leadsom later apologised, while others said they showed naivety and a lack of judgment. Leadsom told reporters she was pulling out of the race to avoid nine weeks of campaign uncertainty at a time when strong leadership was needed. She acknowledged that May had secured much greater backing in a vote of Conservative members of parliament last week. "I have ... concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well supported prime minister," she said. "I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success." Graham Brady, head of the Conservative party committee in charge of the leadership contest, confirmed that May had been elected with immediate effect. The pound, which has hit 31-year lows since the referendum on concern about potential damage to the British economy, bounced slightly on the news that the Conservative leadership question would be resolved much sooner than expected. It was trading around $1.2970, up 0.1 per cent on the day but still down around 13 per cent since the day of the vote. The FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies rose 3.27 per cent. "Welcome news we have 1 candidate with overwhelming support to be next PM. Theresa Mayhas strength, integrity & determination to do the job," finance minister George Osborne tweeted. Forging New Role The 52-to-48 per cent vote to quit the EU after 43 years of membership was a stunning rebuke to Britain's political leaders and especially Cameron, who had argued that breaking away would bring economic disaster. Britons ignored his warnings, swayed by the arguments of the Leave campaign that 'Brexit' would enable them to regain 'independence' from Brussels and clamp down on high immigration, something hard to achieve under EU rules allowing people to live and work anywhere in the bloc. May's leadership hopes had appeared at risk of being damaged by her failure, in six years as interior minister, to bring immigration down, and the fact she found herself on the losing side of the referendum campaign. But her two best-known rivals on the Leave side were felled by political back-stabbing when Justice Secretary Michael Gove brought down former London mayor Boris Johnson and was then punished for his perceived treachery by being eliminated from a ballot of Conservative MPs. In her speech in Birmingham on Monday, May set out her vision for the economy, calling for "a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few". In a pitch for the political centre, she said she would prioritise more house-building, a crackdown on tax evasion by individuals and companies, lower energy costs and a narrowing of the 'unhealthy' gap between the pay of employees and corporate bosses. "Under my leadership, the Conservative Party will put itself completely, absolutely, unequivocally, at the service of ordinary working people ... we will make Britain a country that works for everyone," she said. Labour Disarray May's biggest challenge will be to map out the course of Britain's withdrawal, a process still clouded in uncertainty, and to sort out new terms of trade with the other 27 EU nations. "We will have difficult negotiations with Britain, it will not be easy," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel who insisted that Britain would not be able to get free access to the EU's single market without accepting free movement of people. European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said: "We should open the negotiations as quickly as possible in order to limit uncertainty." More than 1000 British lawyers said in a letter to Cameron that members of parliament should decide whether Britain leaves the EU because the referendum was not legally binding. Opposition members of parliament, responding to the impending appointment of May, demanded a general election. "It is crucial, given the instability caused by the Brexit vote, that the country has a democratically elected prime minister," Labour party election co-ordinator Jon Trickett said. Labour too has been thrown into upheaval by the referendum, with leader Jeremy Corbyn widely criticised for failing to make a sufficiently passionate case in favour of staying in the EU. Minutes before Leadsom's announcement, Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle launched a leadership challenge to Corbyn. "Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership that this party needs -- I believe I can," Eagle said. Corbyn was elected last year with overwhelming support from grassroots Labour activists. He has ignored a vote of no confidence from the party's lawmakers, saying he has a responsibility to carry out that mandate. (Reuters)

Theresa May to be Britain's next Prime Minister

Sri Lanka today announced that it had raised $1.5 billion through a bond issue which was nearly four times oversubscribed despite volatility triggered by Britain&#39;s to leave the European Union (EU). 
 
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said orders totalled $5.5 billion for the $1.5 billion bond issue on Monday. Sri Lanka offered $500 million in bonds with a tenure of 5.5 years and $1 billion for a period of 10 years. 
 
The shorter term debt was priced just below 6.125 per cent while the longer tenue was at 7.125 percent, the bank said, adding that the rate was well within its anticipated interest rate. 
 
&quot;Despite the high volatility in the global financial markets following the historic United Kingdom referendum in June regarding their membership of the European Union, the bonds saw strong interests from a wide range of high quality investors,&quot; the bank said. 
 
Sri Lanka has already appointed a high-powered panel to study the effects of Brexit on its $82 billion economy as 10 per cent of its exports to Britain are under European Union trade concessions. 
 
Sri Lanka&#39;s new government secured a $1.5 billion IMF bailout last month to address its balance of payments crisis after a spending spree to increase public sector salaries last year. 
 
President Maithripala Sirisena&#39;s administration sought an IMF bailout immediately after taking power in January last year, but the fund turned down the request, saying Sri Lanka&#39;s reserves were at a comfortable level then. 
 
However, the government faced a balance of payments crisis after it implemented its election pledges of lower fuel and utility prices. 
 
Sri Lanka enjoyed impressive economic growth rates averaging more than 8.0 percent for two years after a prolonged civil war ended in 2009. 
 
But the pace has since slowed, falling to 4.8 percent in 2015, down from 4.9 in the previous year, according to official data. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

Sri Lanka has already appointed a high-powered panel to study the effects of Brexit on its $82 billion economy

Sri Lanka today announced that it had raised $1.5 billion through a bond issue which was nearly four times oversubscribed despite volatility triggered by Britain's to leave the European Union (EU). The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said orders totalled $5.5 billion for the $1.5 billion bond issue on Monday. Sri Lanka offered $500 million in bonds with a tenure of 5.5 years and $1 billion for a period of 10 years. The shorter term debt was priced just below 6.125 per cent while the longer tenue was at 7.125 percent, the bank said, adding that the rate was well within its anticipated interest rate. "Despite the high volatility in the global financial markets following the historic United Kingdom referendum in June regarding their membership of the European Union, the bonds saw strong interests from a wide range of high quality investors," the bank said. Sri Lanka has already appointed a high-powered panel to study the effects of Brexit on its $82 billion economy as 10 per cent of its exports to Britain are under European Union trade concessions. Sri Lanka's new government secured a $1.5 billion IMF bailout last month to address its balance of payments crisis after a spending spree to increase public sector salaries last year. President Maithripala Sirisena's administration sought an IMF bailout immediately after taking power in January last year, but the fund turned down the request, saying Sri Lanka's reserves were at a comfortable level then. However, the government faced a balance of payments crisis after it implemented its election pledges of lower fuel and utility prices. Sri Lanka enjoyed impressive economic growth rates averaging more than 8.0 percent for two years after a prolonged civil war ended in 2009. But the pace has since slowed, falling to 4.8 percent in 2015, down from 4.9 in the previous year, according to official data. (AFP)

Despite Brexit volatility, Sri Lanka raises $1.5 billion

Energy minister Andrea Leadsom abruptly withdrew from the contest to succeed David Cameron as Britain&#39;s prime minister today, leaving her rival Theresa May as the only candidate. 
 
The two women had been due to contest a ballot of around 150,000 Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by September 9, but the shock announcement opens the way for May to take over much sooner. 
 
Leadsom, who has no cabinet experience, was barely known to the British public until she emerged as a prominent voice in the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. 
 
She had been criticised over a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother meant she had more of a stake in the country&#39;s future than May, who has no children. 
 
Leadsom read out a statement to reporters in which she said she was pulling out of the race because a nine-week leadership campaign was highly undesirable at such a critical time. She acknowledged that May had secured overwhelming backing in a vote of Conservative members of parliament last week. 
 
&quot;Strong leadership is needed urgently to begin the work of withdrawing from the European Union,&quot; Leadsom said. 
 
&quot;I have ... concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well supported prime minister. I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success. I assure her of my full support.&quot; 
 
May, 59, who has served as interior minister for the past six years, is now set to become Britain&#39;s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. 
 
(Reuters)

Leadsom said that she was pulling out of the race because a nine-week leadership campaign was highly undesirable at such a critical time

Energy minister Andrea Leadsom abruptly withdrew from the contest to succeed David Cameron as Britain's prime minister today, leaving her rival Theresa May as the only candidate. The two women had been due to contest a ballot of around 150,000 Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by September 9, but the shock announcement opens the way for May to take over much sooner. Leadsom, who has no cabinet experience, was barely known to the British public until she emerged as a prominent voice in the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. She had been criticised over a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother meant she had more of a stake in the country's future than May, who has no children. Leadsom read out a statement to reporters in which she said she was pulling out of the race because a nine-week leadership campaign was highly undesirable at such a critical time. She acknowledged that May had secured overwhelming backing in a vote of Conservative members of parliament last week. "Strong leadership is needed urgently to begin the work of withdrawing from the European Union," Leadsom said. "I have ... concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well supported prime minister. I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success. I assure her of my full support." May, 59, who has served as interior minister for the past six years, is now set to become Britain's second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. (Reuters)

Andrea Leadsom quits leadership race

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he is unlikely to play in Britain&#39;s Davis Cup quarter-final clash in Serbia this weekend but could travel to Belgrade in support of the team. 
 
Murray, who beat Canadian powerhouse Milos Raonic on Sunday to take his second Wimbledon title, almost single-handedly led Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph since 1936 in last November. 
 
The squad, captained by Leon Smith, also includes Murray&#39;s brother and doubles world number one Jamie, 68th ranked Kyle Edmund, Daniel Evans and doubles specialist Dominic Inglot. 
 
&quot;I spoke to Leon last night at the champions dinner briefly. I&#39;m going to call him after this,&#39; Murray told the BBC today. 
 
&quot;I would say it&#39;s looking unlikely, but even if I don&#39;t play I&#39;m still probably going to go anyway just to be there with the team. But I&#39;m going to speak to him (Leon) this afternoon. He was flying there this morning.&quot; 
 
Murray, who reunited with coach Ivan Lendl last month, is also committed to playing at the 2016 Rio Olympics next month, where he will be the defending champion. 
 
Serbia&#39;s world number one Novak Djokovic is also set to miss the Davis Cup tie after saying he needed to rest following his shock defeat by American Sam Querrey at the All England Club. 
 
(Reuters)

Andy Murray almost single-handedly led Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph since 1936 in last November

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he is unlikely to play in Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final clash in Serbia this weekend but could travel to Belgrade in support of the team. Murray, who beat Canadian powerhouse Milos Raonic on Sunday to take his second Wimbledon title, almost single-handedly led Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph since 1936 in last November. The squad, captained by Leon Smith, also includes Murray's brother and doubles world number one Jamie, 68th ranked Kyle Edmund, Daniel Evans and doubles specialist Dominic Inglot. "I spoke to Leon last night at the champions dinner briefly. I'm going to call him after this,' Murray told the BBC today. "I would say it's looking unlikely, but even if I don't play I'm still probably going to go anyway just to be there with the team. But I'm going to speak to him (Leon) this afternoon. He was flying there this morning." Murray, who reunited with coach Ivan Lendl last month, is also committed to playing at the 2016 Rio Olympics next month, where he will be the defending champion. Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic is also set to miss the Davis Cup tie after saying he needed to rest following his shock defeat by American Sam Querrey at the All England Club. (Reuters)

Murray likely to miss Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final

Prime Minister David Cameron said it was in Britain&#39;s fundamental interest to remain very close to the European Union (EU) when it renegotiates a new relationship with the bloc it voted to leave in a referendum last month. 
 
Speaking to global aerospace executives at the Farnborough airshow today, Cameron said Britain must accept the reality of the vote and must make it work, including forging a new relationship with its European partners. 
 
&quot;The big strategic decisions are for the next prime minister but the groundwork is underway,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;All I would say about the outcome is this: I believe it is in our fundamental national and economic interest to remain very close to the European Union, for trade, for business, for security, for cooperation. So let that be our goal.&quot; 
 
Cameron announced his resignation the day after his campaign to remain in the EU was defeated in the referendum. 
 
He said Britain had already had a taste of the turbulence in global markets and in term of the value of the pound that he had warned would follow a leave victory. 
 
&quot;There will be other problems ahead but I want to be clear: we will deal with them from a position of strength, with a growing economy, a greatly reduced deficit, lower inflation and more jobs and businesses than ever before in our country,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Above all though, we must recognise we are in a new reality now, we must accept it and we must make it work.&quot; 
 
He said Britain needed to &quot;think big and think radically&quot; to ensure the best outcome in the new circumstances, including a much bigger push on trade and investment targeting fast-growing economies like India and China. 
 
(Reuters)

Britain needs to "think big and think radically" to ensure the best outcome in the new circumstances, insists PM David Cameron

Prime Minister David Cameron said it was in Britain's fundamental interest to remain very close to the European Union (EU) when it renegotiates a new relationship with the bloc it voted to leave in a referendum last month. Speaking to global aerospace executives at the Farnborough airshow today, Cameron said Britain must accept the reality of the vote and must make it work, including forging a new relationship with its European partners. "The big strategic decisions are for the next prime minister but the groundwork is underway," he said. "All I would say about the outcome is this: I believe it is in our fundamental national and economic interest to remain very close to the European Union, for trade, for business, for security, for cooperation. So let that be our goal." Cameron announced his resignation the day after his campaign to remain in the EU was defeated in the referendum. He said Britain had already had a taste of the turbulence in global markets and in term of the value of the pound that he had warned would follow a leave victory. "There will be other problems ahead but I want to be clear: we will deal with them from a position of strength, with a growing economy, a greatly reduced deficit, lower inflation and more jobs and businesses than ever before in our country," he said. "Above all though, we must recognise we are in a new reality now, we must accept it and we must make it work." He said Britain needed to "think big and think radically" to ensure the best outcome in the new circumstances, including a much bigger push on trade and investment targeting fast-growing economies like India and China. (Reuters)

After divorce, Cameron says UK must stay close to EU

London, United Kingdom: &nbsp;Andrea Leadsom, one of two candidates to be the next British prime minister, has caused an uproar by suggesting that being a mother means she has a greater stake in the country&#39;s future than her childless rival Theresa May. 
 
A little-known junior energy minister until she emerged as one of the most ardent voices in the campaign to leave the European Union, Leadsom is the outsider in the contest to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader and prime minister. 
 
Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay in the bloc, announced he would quit after the June 23 referendum delivered a vote for Brexit. May, the interior minister who also advocated remaining in the EU, is the favourite to replace him. 
 
&quot;I am sure she will be really sad she doesn&#39;t have children so I don&#39;t want this to be &#39;Andrea has children, Theresa hasn&#39;t&#39; because I think that would be really horrible,&quot; Leadsom told the Times newspaper, which has declared its support for May. 
 
&quot;But genuinely I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake. She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people. But I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next.&quot; 
 
Leadsom denounced the Times article on Twitter as &quot;gutter journalism&quot; and on Saturday made a televised statement outside her home to say she had made clear that the issue of her motherhood should not be a feature of the campaign. 
 
&quot;I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal stake in our society and in the future of our country,&quot; she said. 
 
The Times stood by its story and released an audio recording of Leadsom making the comments, which was played on Saturday morning news bulletins on all the main radio and TV stations. 
 
May made no comment on Leadsom&#39;s interview, merely tweeting: &quot;Yesterday, I launched my clean campaign pledge and invite @AndreaLeadsom to join me in signing it.&quot; 
 
That was a reference to five commitments May made on Friday, including to ensure that campaigning &quot;stays within the acceptable limits of political debate&quot;. 
 
&quot;VILE&quot; 
 
May and Leadsom were selected by Conservative lawmakers from an original field of five candidates. May was backed by 199 lawmakers, while Leadsom received support from 84. The contest now moves to the party&#39;s 150,000 grassroots members, who will elect the winner by Sept. 9. 
 
The comments made in the Times by Leadsom, a devout Christian who wants to swiftly launch the legal process of exiting the EU and end freedom of movement rights if elected, drew sharp criticism from several Conservative lawmakers. 
 
&quot;I am childless. I have nieces and nephews. I believe I - like everyone else - have a very real stake in our country,&quot; tweeted Ruth Davidson, leader of the party&#39;s Scottish arm, who had previously declared her support for May in the contest. 
 
Lawmaker Alan Duncan, also a May supporter, called Leadsom&#39;s comments &quot;vile&quot;, while colleague Antoinette Sandbach said Leadsom had shown &quot;a lack of judgment&quot;. 
 
Leadsom&#39;s bid, which has enthused some of the more staunchly eurosceptic people on the right of the party, had already been marred by questions over whether she had overstated her professional experience in finance. 
 
One of Leadsom&#39;s most vocal supporters, junior defence minister Penny Mordaunt, defended her comments on motherhood. 
 
&quot;She was talking about what motivates her personally,&quot; Mordaunt told BBC radio. &quot;This is an attempt I think by a paper that has declared for the other candidate to smear Andrea.&quot; 
 
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper last week, May had spoken of the sadness she and her husband Philip had experienced after being unable to have children. 
 
&quot;Of course we were both affected by it. You see friends who now have grown-up children, but you accept the hand that life deals you,&quot; she said.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

London, United Kingdom: Andrea Leadsom, one of two candidates to be the next British prime minister, has caused an uproar by suggesting that being a mother means she has a greater stake in the country's future than her childless rival Theresa May. A little-known junior energy minister until she emerged as one of the most ardent voices in the campaign to leave the European Union, Leadsom is the outsider in the contest to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader and prime minister. Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay in the bloc, announced he would quit after the June 23 referendum delivered a vote for Brexit. May, the interior minister who also advocated remaining in the EU, is the favourite to replace him. "I am sure she will be really sad she doesn't have children so I don't want this to be 'Andrea has children, Theresa hasn't' because I think that would be really horrible," Leadsom told the Times newspaper, which has declared its support for May. "But genuinely I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake. She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people. But I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next." Leadsom denounced the Times article on Twitter as "gutter journalism" and on Saturday made a televised statement outside her home to say she had made clear that the issue of her motherhood should not be a feature of the campaign. "I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal stake in our society and in the future of our country," she said. The Times stood by its story and released an audio recording of Leadsom making the comments, which was played on Saturday morning news bulletins on all the main radio and TV stations. May made no comment on Leadsom's interview, merely tweeting: "Yesterday, I launched my clean campaign pledge and invite @AndreaLeadsom to join me in signing it." That was a reference to five commitments May made on Friday, including to ensure that campaigning "stays within the acceptable limits of political debate". "VILE" May and Leadsom were selected by Conservative lawmakers from an original field of five candidates. May was backed by 199 lawmakers, while Leadsom received support from 84. The contest now moves to the party's 150,000 grassroots members, who will elect the winner by Sept. 9. The comments made in the Times by Leadsom, a devout Christian who wants to swiftly launch the legal process of exiting the EU and end freedom of movement rights if elected, drew sharp criticism from several Conservative lawmakers. "I am childless. I have nieces and nephews. I believe I - like everyone else - have a very real stake in our country," tweeted Ruth Davidson, leader of the party's Scottish arm, who had previously declared her support for May in the contest. Lawmaker Alan Duncan, also a May supporter, called Leadsom's comments "vile", while colleague Antoinette Sandbach said Leadsom had shown "a lack of judgment". Leadsom's bid, which has enthused some of the more staunchly eurosceptic people on the right of the party, had already been marred by questions over whether she had overstated her professional experience in finance. One of Leadsom's most vocal supporters, junior defence minister Penny Mordaunt, defended her comments on motherhood. "She was talking about what motivates her personally," Mordaunt told BBC radio. "This is an attempt I think by a paper that has declared for the other candidate to smear Andrea." In an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper last week, May had spoken of the sadness she and her husband Philip had experienced after being unable to have children. "Of course we were both affected by it. You see friends who now have grown-up children, but you accept the hand that life deals you," she said. (Reuters)

Britain PM contender Leadsom says she has greater stake in country because she is a mother, causes uproar

The British government today formally rejected a petition signed by more than 4.125 million people calling for a second referendum on Britain&#39;s membership of the EU. 
 
&quot;We the undersigned call upon Her Majesty&#39;s government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60 per cent based a turnout less than 75 per cent there should be another referendum,&quot; the petition said. 
 
On June 23, on a 72 per cent turnout, 52 per cent (17.4 million people) voted in favour of Britain leaving the European Union. 
 
When a petition on Parliament`s website tops 100,000 signatures, the Petitions Committee considers it for a parliamentary debate. 
More than 77,000 fraudulent signatures were removed from the EU referendum petition. 
 
In its response, the government said no minimum turnout threshold was set when the EU Referendum Act passed through parliament. 
 
It said that Prime Minister David Cameron had made clear to parliament on June 27 that the referendum was &quot;one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history&quot; with more than 33 million people voting. 
 
&quot;The prime minister and government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and, as the prime minister has said, the decision must be respected,&quot; the foreign office said on behalf of the government. 
 
&quot;We must now prepare for the process to exit the EU and the government is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people in the negotiations.&quot; 
 
Between 2,000 and 6,000 people were expected to join in the More In Common Picnic Against Brexit today. 
 
People who are against Britain leaving the EU were to gather in London`s Green Park, which is next to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II`s official residence. 
 
A rally was held in London on July 3 when more than 40,000 people, according to organisers, marched through the British capital to vent their anger at the outgoing Cameron for calling the referendum. 
 
They waved European flags and chanted &quot;We love you EU&quot;. 
 
The referendum result triggered Cameron&#39;s resignation. Members of the governing centre-right Conservative Party will choose either interior minister Theresa May or energy minister Andrea Leadsom as their next leader -- and therefore the next prime minister. 
 
It will be down to the new premier to trigger Article 50 of the EU&#39;s Lisbon Treaty, which starts a two-year clock running on a country&#39;s exit from the bloc. 
 
(AFP)

'If the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum' was rejected

The British government today formally rejected a petition signed by more than 4.125 million people calling for a second referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. "We the undersigned call upon Her Majesty's government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60 per cent based a turnout less than 75 per cent there should be another referendum," the petition said. On June 23, on a 72 per cent turnout, 52 per cent (17.4 million people) voted in favour of Britain leaving the European Union. When a petition on Parliament`s website tops 100,000 signatures, the Petitions Committee considers it for a parliamentary debate. More than 77,000 fraudulent signatures were removed from the EU referendum petition. In its response, the government said no minimum turnout threshold was set when the EU Referendum Act passed through parliament. It said that Prime Minister David Cameron had made clear to parliament on June 27 that the referendum was "one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history" with more than 33 million people voting. "The prime minister and government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and, as the prime minister has said, the decision must be respected," the foreign office said on behalf of the government. "We must now prepare for the process to exit the EU and the government is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people in the negotiations." Between 2,000 and 6,000 people were expected to join in the More In Common Picnic Against Brexit today. People who are against Britain leaving the EU were to gather in London`s Green Park, which is next to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II`s official residence. A rally was held in London on July 3 when more than 40,000 people, according to organisers, marched through the British capital to vent their anger at the outgoing Cameron for calling the referendum. They waved European flags and chanted "We love you EU". The referendum result triggered Cameron's resignation. Members of the governing centre-right Conservative Party will choose either interior minister Theresa May or energy minister Andrea Leadsom as their next leader -- and therefore the next prime minister. It will be down to the new premier to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which starts a two-year clock running on a country's exit from the bloc. (AFP)

UK government formally rejects petition signed by 4 million for second EU referendum

Oil prices rebounded in Asia today after tanking nearly five per cent the day before on fresh worries about an oversupply, while traders await the release of key US jobs data. 
 
The commodity plunged Thursday in response to official figures showing US commercial inventories fell less than expected last week, indicating softer demand in the world&#39;s top oil consumer as the crucial driving season kicks in. 
 
The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term fallout from Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union (EU). 
 
At around 0650 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 26 cents, or 0.58 per cent, at $45.40 and Brent gained 32 cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $46.72. 
 
WTI plunged 4.8 per cent and Brent sank 4.9 per cent on Thursday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported stockpiles fell 2.2 million barrels in the week ending July 1. The market was expecting a 2.5 million barrel drop, according to Bloomberg News. 
 
Both contracts are more than six per cent lower down from last Friday. 
 
The DoE also reported a much smaller than expected decline in petrol stockpiles during the peak summer driving season when Americans take to the road for their holidays. Gasoline stockpiles fell 100,000 barrels, well below the forecast 350,000. 
 
IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw said traders were looking for bargains after Thursday&#39;s &quot;substantial drop&quot; in prices, but added the oversupply concerns will linger. 
 
&quot;What&#39;s even more important was the lack of decline in the gasoline inventories, given that the summer driving season in the US still has two more months to go,&quot; Aw said. 
 
&quot;Traders now fear that we could see a worsening of the supply overhang when summer is over,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
Prices were also given some support after a militant group in Nigeria, Africa&#39;s biggest oil producer, said it attacked more oil infrastructure in the country&#39;s south, ignoring a call for unity from President Muhammadu Buhari. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term Brexit fallout

Oil prices rebounded in Asia today after tanking nearly five per cent the day before on fresh worries about an oversupply, while traders await the release of key US jobs data. The commodity plunged Thursday in response to official figures showing US commercial inventories fell less than expected last week, indicating softer demand in the world's top oil consumer as the crucial driving season kicks in. The data added to an already downbeat mood on markets as investors worry about the longer-term fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU). At around 0650 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 26 cents, or 0.58 per cent, at $45.40 and Brent gained 32 cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $46.72. WTI plunged 4.8 per cent and Brent sank 4.9 per cent on Thursday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported stockpiles fell 2.2 million barrels in the week ending July 1. The market was expecting a 2.5 million barrel drop, according to Bloomberg News. Both contracts are more than six per cent lower down from last Friday. The DoE also reported a much smaller than expected decline in petrol stockpiles during the peak summer driving season when Americans take to the road for their holidays. Gasoline stockpiles fell 100,000 barrels, well below the forecast 350,000. IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw said traders were looking for bargains after Thursday's "substantial drop" in prices, but added the oversupply concerns will linger. "What's even more important was the lack of decline in the gasoline inventories, given that the summer driving season in the US still has two more months to go," Aw said. "Traders now fear that we could see a worsening of the supply overhang when summer is over," he added. Prices were also given some support after a militant group in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, said it attacked more oil infrastructure in the country's south, ignoring a call for unity from President Muhammadu Buhari. (AFP)

Oil prices rebound in Asia as investors await key US jobs data

Britain said it would start preliminary talks with India on Friday about an eventual bilateral trade deal after last month&#39;s referendum vote to leave the European Union, which has forced London to rethink its trade ties with the rest of the world. 
 
British business secretary Sajid Javid also said Britain would have as many as 300 trade specialists in place before the end of the year, up from about 100 now, as the country tries to increase its firepower to operate as a solo trading nation. 
 
Britain has negotiated its trade deals through the EU for decades. 
 
&quot;Following the referendum result, my absolute priority is making sure the UK has the tools it needs to continue to compete on the global stage,&quot; Javid said in a statement 
 
&quot;Over the coming months, I will be conducting similar meetings with other key trade partners, outlining the government&#39;s vision for what the UK&#39;s future trade relationship might look like,&quot; he said. 
 
Javid&#39;s trip to New Delhi was likely to be followed in the coming months by discussions about trade with the United States, China, Japan and South Korea, the business ministry said. 
 
London also appears to be keen to tighten its trade ties with China. A source close to British finance minister George Osborne said he met senior officials from the world&#39;s second-largest economy in London on Thursday to discuss trade, agreeing to work to foster stronger ties between the two countries. 
 
Britain&#39;s decision to leave the EU at a referendum on June 23 has raised big questions about its future trading relationship with the rest of the bloc, which buys about 45 per cent of British exports, and with other economies. 
 
Brexit supporters have said that Britain will be able to strike a good deal with the EU and also reach agreements with other big economies more quickly on its own than as part of the 28-nation EU. 
 
For its part, the bloc has so far failed to do a deal with India.&nbsp;Formal negotiations between Britain and countries such as India and the United States will have to wait for London to settle its future ties with the EU, something that is likely to take years. 
 
India is by far the most populous nation in the 53-country Commonwealth, whose members are mostly former British colonies and represent a combined 2.2 billion people across the world. 
 
Britain was the biggest foreign investor among the Group of 20 nations in India in 2015, while India represents the third-largest source of foreign direct investment in Britain, the British business ministry said in a statement. 
 
Bilateral trade in goods and services last year was worth 16.55 billion pounds ($21.33 billion), it said. 
 
As one of the world&#39;s biggest and fastest-growing developing economies, India has long been a target for rich countries. It has demanded significant visa concessions for its citizens to work abroad, a source of tension with the United States. 
 
The leaders of Britain&#39;s &quot;Leave&quot; campaign in the referendum said they wanted to allow more skilled, non-EU workers into the country under a new selective immigration policy. 
 
On its part, Britain is likely to push for more access to India&#39;s financial services market. 
 
Javid was due to meet Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley and commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. 
 
(Reuters)

After ending its tryst with the EU, Britain is now looking to strengthen its economic ties with countries like India, China and Japan

Britain said it would start preliminary talks with India on Friday about an eventual bilateral trade deal after last month's referendum vote to leave the European Union, which has forced London to rethink its trade ties with the rest of the world. British business secretary Sajid Javid also said Britain would have as many as 300 trade specialists in place before the end of the year, up from about 100 now, as the country tries to increase its firepower to operate as a solo trading nation. Britain has negotiated its trade deals through the EU for decades. "Following the referendum result, my absolute priority is making sure the UK has the tools it needs to continue to compete on the global stage," Javid said in a statement "Over the coming months, I will be conducting similar meetings with other key trade partners, outlining the government's vision for what the UK's future trade relationship might look like," he said. Javid's trip to New Delhi was likely to be followed in the coming months by discussions about trade with the United States, China, Japan and South Korea, the business ministry said. London also appears to be keen to tighten its trade ties with China. A source close to British finance minister George Osborne said he met senior officials from the world's second-largest economy in London on Thursday to discuss trade, agreeing to work to foster stronger ties between the two countries. Britain's decision to leave the EU at a referendum on June 23 has raised big questions about its future trading relationship with the rest of the bloc, which buys about 45 per cent of British exports, and with other economies. Brexit supporters have said that Britain will be able to strike a good deal with the EU and also reach agreements with other big economies more quickly on its own than as part of the 28-nation EU. For its part, the bloc has so far failed to do a deal with India. Formal negotiations between Britain and countries such as India and the United States will have to wait for London to settle its future ties with the EU, something that is likely to take years. India is by far the most populous nation in the 53-country Commonwealth, whose members are mostly former British colonies and represent a combined 2.2 billion people across the world. Britain was the biggest foreign investor among the Group of 20 nations in India in 2015, while India represents the third-largest source of foreign direct investment in Britain, the British business ministry said in a statement. Bilateral trade in goods and services last year was worth 16.55 billion pounds ($21.33 billion), it said. As one of the world's biggest and fastest-growing developing economies, India has long been a target for rich countries. It has demanded significant visa concessions for its citizens to work abroad, a source of tension with the United States. The leaders of Britain's "Leave" campaign in the referendum said they wanted to allow more skilled, non-EU workers into the country under a new selective immigration policy. On its part, Britain is likely to push for more access to India's financial services market. Javid was due to meet Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley and commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. (Reuters)

UK launches bilateral trade talks with India

The prime minister to lead Britain out of the EU will be either cabinet veteran Theresa May or political newcomer Andrea Leadsom after Conservative MPs voted for a two-woman shortlist, as the IMF urged a swift exit to limit damaging uncertainty. 
 
Interior minister May won 199 votes from the 329 ruling Conservative Party lawmakers who cast their ballots. Junior minister Leadsom, who was only elected to parliament in 2010, garnered 84 votes. 
 
One of the two will become Britain&#39;s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. 
 
The third challenger, justice minister Michael Gove, who announced his surprise bid last week after initially supporting former mayor of London Boris Johnson for the post, was rejected after winning just 46 votes following accusations of &nbsp;treachery. 
 
&quot;We need proven leadership to negotiate the best deals for leaving the European Union,&quot; May said outside the parliament after the announcement. 
 
&quot;This vote shows that the Conservative Party can come together and under my leadership it will,&quot; she said. 
 
The party&#39;s 150,000 members will now choose between May and Leadsom in a postal ballot and the winner, who becomes prime minister without need for a general election, is due to be announced on September 9. 
 
The new prime minister will have the task of extricating Britain from its 43-year membership of the European Union following the seismic vote in last month&#39;s referendum after a bitterly divisive campaign. 
 
May campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU but now promises to respect the referendum result and make Britain the first country to pull out of the 28-nation bloc, while Leadsom was on the &quot;Leave&quot; side. 
 
EU leaders have warned against dragging out the process, a point pressed by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in an interview with AFP in Washington. 
 
&quot;The key word about this Brexit affair is uncertainty and the longer the uncertainty, the higher the risk,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;The sooner they can resolve their timeline and the terms of their departure the better for all. It needs to be predictable as soon as possible.&quot; 
 
Some Conservative MPs agree -- about 30 have signed a letter organised by former party chairman Grant Shapps calling for a new leader to be installed by the end of July. 
 
The shock result of the June 23 referendum prompted Cameron to resign and sent global stock markets and the value of the pound plunging. 
 
London&#39;s FTSE 100 index has recovered but the Bank of England warned this week that the feared risks to financial stability were starting to materialise. 
 
Aberdeen Asset Management on Thursday became the seventh financial group to order a temporary suspension on redemptions from UK property funds after investors rushed to withdraw investments. 
 
Lagarde said Brexit was a &quot;major downside risk&quot; to the world but played down the likelihood of a global recession, saying: &quot;The immediate effects will be on the UK.&quot; 
 
&#39;Prosperity, not austerity&#39; 
 
May, who has run the Home Office since 2010, is a well-known national figure. 
 
Leadsom, who has never served in the cabinet, secured surprisingly strong support following a sound performance in EU referendum debates. 
 
In a speech in London to a room packed with supporters, Leadsom said her focus would be on &quot;the continued success of the UK economy&quot;. 
 
&quot;Prosperity should be our goal, not austerity,&quot; the 53-year-old said. 
 
She dismissed predictions that Brexit could spell economic disaster, and said the fall in the pound to a 31-year low against the dollar was good for exports. 
 
She predicted a return to economic growth when the post-referendum figures are published, adding: &quot;I believe we have a great future ahead of us. 
 
&quot;We need to unite. We need to be positive.&quot; 
 
In a round of television interviews, she dismissed reports that she had exaggerated her experience in the financial sector before becoming an MP in 2010. 
 
Former Tory leader Michael Howard acknowledged Leadsom&#39;s relative lack of experience, but noted Cameron had no experience in government before becoming prime minister. 
 
He threw his support behind her, telling BBC radio: &quot;She&#39;s in tune with the majority of people in this country.&quot; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

The shortlist comes down to cabinet veteran Theresa May and political newcomer Andrea Leadsom

The prime minister to lead Britain out of the EU will be either cabinet veteran Theresa May or political newcomer Andrea Leadsom after Conservative MPs voted for a two-woman shortlist, as the IMF urged a swift exit to limit damaging uncertainty. Interior minister May won 199 votes from the 329 ruling Conservative Party lawmakers who cast their ballots. Junior minister Leadsom, who was only elected to parliament in 2010, garnered 84 votes. One of the two will become Britain's second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. The third challenger, justice minister Michael Gove, who announced his surprise bid last week after initially supporting former mayor of London Boris Johnson for the post, was rejected after winning just 46 votes following accusations of treachery. "We need proven leadership to negotiate the best deals for leaving the European Union," May said outside the parliament after the announcement. "This vote shows that the Conservative Party can come together and under my leadership it will," she said. The party's 150,000 members will now choose between May and Leadsom in a postal ballot and the winner, who becomes prime minister without need for a general election, is due to be announced on September 9. The new prime minister will have the task of extricating Britain from its 43-year membership of the European Union following the seismic vote in last month's referendum after a bitterly divisive campaign. May campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU but now promises to respect the referendum result and make Britain the first country to pull out of the 28-nation bloc, while Leadsom was on the "Leave" side. EU leaders have warned against dragging out the process, a point pressed by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in an interview with AFP in Washington. "The key word about this Brexit affair is uncertainty and the longer the uncertainty, the higher the risk," she said. "The sooner they can resolve their timeline and the terms of their departure the better for all. It needs to be predictable as soon as possible." Some Conservative MPs agree -- about 30 have signed a letter organised by former party chairman Grant Shapps calling for a new leader to be installed by the end of July. The shock result of the June 23 referendum prompted Cameron to resign and sent global stock markets and the value of the pound plunging. London's FTSE 100 index has recovered but the Bank of England warned this week that the feared risks to financial stability were starting to materialise. Aberdeen Asset Management on Thursday became the seventh financial group to order a temporary suspension on redemptions from UK property funds after investors rushed to withdraw investments. Lagarde said Brexit was a "major downside risk" to the world but played down the likelihood of a global recession, saying: "The immediate effects will be on the UK." 'Prosperity, not austerity' May, who has run the Home Office since 2010, is a well-known national figure. Leadsom, who has never served in the cabinet, secured surprisingly strong support following a sound performance in EU referendum debates. In a speech in London to a room packed with supporters, Leadsom said her focus would be on "the continued success of the UK economy". "Prosperity should be our goal, not austerity," the 53-year-old said. She dismissed predictions that Brexit could spell economic disaster, and said the fall in the pound to a 31-year low against the dollar was good for exports. She predicted a return to economic growth when the post-referendum figures are published, adding: "I believe we have a great future ahead of us. "We need to unite. We need to be positive." In a round of television interviews, she dismissed reports that she had exaggerated her experience in the financial sector before becoming an MP in 2010. Former Tory leader Michael Howard acknowledged Leadsom's relative lack of experience, but noted Cameron had no experience in government before becoming prime minister. He threw his support behind her, telling BBC radio: "She's in tune with the majority of people in this country." (AFP)

Next British prime minister will be a woman

Britain&#39;s decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003 had a &quot;far from satisfactory&quot; legal basis and ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair&#39;s case for military action was over-hyped, a long-awaited inquiry into the conflict concluded on Wednesday. 
 
The intelligence about Iraq&#39;s alleged weapons of mass destruction which Blair used to justify joining the US-led invasion, which led to the removal of Saddam Hussein and the deaths of 179 British soldiers, was flawed but went unchallenged, inquiry chairman John Chilcot said. 
 
There was no imminent threat from Saddam in March 2003 and the chaos in Iraq and the region which followed should also have been foreseen, he added. 
 
&quot;The inquiry has not expressed a view on whether military action was legal,&quot; Chilcot told reporters and relatives of some of the soldiers killed in Iraq. &quot;We have, however, concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for military action were far from satisfactory.&quot; 
 
Blair&#39;s statement to parliament in 2002 about the risk posed by Iraq&#39;s alleged weapons of mass destruction and an intelligence dossier to the public that accompanied it were presented with a &quot;certainty that was not justified&quot;, Chilcot said. 
 
(Reuters)

The intelligence about Iraq's alleged WMD, which Blair used to justify joining the US-led invasion, was flawed but went unchallenged

Britain's decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003 had a "far from satisfactory" legal basis and ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for military action was over-hyped, a long-awaited inquiry into the conflict concluded on Wednesday. The intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction which Blair used to justify joining the US-led invasion, which led to the removal of Saddam Hussein and the deaths of 179 British soldiers, was flawed but went unchallenged, inquiry chairman John Chilcot said. There was no imminent threat from Saddam in March 2003 and the chaos in Iraq and the region which followed should also have been foreseen, he added. "The inquiry has not expressed a view on whether military action was legal," Chilcot told reporters and relatives of some of the soldiers killed in Iraq. "We have, however, concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for military action were far from satisfactory." Blair's statement to parliament in 2002 about the risk posed by Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and an intelligence dossier to the public that accompanied it were presented with a "certainty that was not justified", Chilcot said. (Reuters)

Legal case for Britain's 2003 invasion of Iraq 'far from satisfactory', finds inquiry

Britain&#39;s business minister Sajid Javid said the government should cut corporate and personal taxes to soften the blow from an expected slowdown after Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union (EU). 
 
Javid told the Financial Times the government needed to switch its focus from reducing the deficit to stimulating economic growth by introducing unfunded tax cuts to boost research and investment for companies. 
 
Confidence in Britain&#39;s economy has been rocked by the decision by voters to leave the world&#39;s largest trading bloc on June 23. The pound is trading at 31-year lows and the Bank of England has warned that the financial risks it highlighted ahead of the vote were starting to crystallise.&nbsp; 
 
Javid backs Osborne&#39;s approach&nbsp; 
 
Finance minister George Osborne has said he plans to cut Britain&#39;s corporation tax to below 15 per cent and has also dropped his aim of turning Britain&#39;s budget deficit into a surplus by 2020. 
 
Javid backed Osborne&#39;s softer approach to fixing the public finances. He told the FT it was hard to predict what would happen to the deficit. 
 
&quot;Does it mean 3 per cent becomes 4 per cent or 5 per cent? I don&#39;t think anyone can say at this point,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
Britain&#39;s budget deficit was just under 4 per cent of gross domestic product in the financial year which ended in March. 
 
Javid said the government should double tax credits for research and development, exempt new plant and machinery from business rates and increase the annual investment allowance. He said the threshold at which people start paying income tax should also rise by 1,000 pounds. 
 
As well as the signals from the government of help for the economy from lower taxes, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said he expects the central bank to provide more monetary stimulus over the summer. On Tuesday, the BoE lowered a requirement for banks to set aside money to cover losses. 
 
It is not clear how long Osborne and Javid will remain in their jobs. Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will resign by September and the ruling Conservative Party is in the process of choosing a new leader. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Confidence in Britain's economy has been rocked by the decision by voters to leave the world's largest trading bloc on June 23

Britain's business minister Sajid Javid said the government should cut corporate and personal taxes to soften the blow from an expected slowdown after Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU). Javid told the Financial Times the government needed to switch its focus from reducing the deficit to stimulating economic growth by introducing unfunded tax cuts to boost research and investment for companies. Confidence in Britain's economy has been rocked by the decision by voters to leave the world's largest trading bloc on June 23. The pound is trading at 31-year lows and the Bank of England has warned that the financial risks it highlighted ahead of the vote were starting to crystallise. Javid backs Osborne's approach Finance minister George Osborne has said he plans to cut Britain's corporation tax to below 15 per cent and has also dropped his aim of turning Britain's budget deficit into a surplus by 2020. Javid backed Osborne's softer approach to fixing the public finances. He told the FT it was hard to predict what would happen to the deficit. "Does it mean 3 per cent becomes 4 per cent or 5 per cent? I don't think anyone can say at this point," he said. Britain's budget deficit was just under 4 per cent of gross domestic product in the financial year which ended in March. Javid said the government should double tax credits for research and development, exempt new plant and machinery from business rates and increase the annual investment allowance. He said the threshold at which people start paying income tax should also rise by 1,000 pounds. As well as the signals from the government of help for the economy from lower taxes, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said he expects the central bank to provide more monetary stimulus over the summer. On Tuesday, the BoE lowered a requirement for banks to set aside money to cover losses. It is not clear how long Osborne and Javid will remain in their jobs. Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will resign by September and the ruling Conservative Party is in the process of choosing a new leader. (Reuters)

UK business minister calls for tax cuts to soften Brexit blow

Gold rose as much as 1 per cent today, hitting the highest in more than two years, as investors piled back into safe havens such as bullion amid renewed market jitters over Britain&#39;s decision to leave the European Union (EU).&nbsp; 
 
Asian shares also tumbled as fears over instability in the EU returned with a vengeance, sending the pound to three-decade low and hammering risky assets. 
 
Spot gold touched its highest since March 2014 at $1,371.40, and was trading up 0.9 per cent at $1,367.20 an ounce by 0401 GMT. It surpassed the $1,358.20 mark hit on June 24 in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. 
 
US gold was up 0.8 per cent at $1,369.40. 
 
&quot;No one is able to understand how much risk is yet to be unravelled (from Brexit). That is an uncertainty that no one likes. This is what is driving gold prices higher,&quot; said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong. 
 
Yellow metal is on track to log its biggest yearly gain since 2010&nbsp; 
 
The Bank of England took steps on Tuesday to ensure British banks keep lending as the financial consequences of the decision to leave the EU began to materialise. 
 
The yellow metal, often favoured as a hedge against economic and financial uncertainty, has risen about 29 per cent this year and is on track to log its biggest yearly gain since 2010. 
 
Further boosting gold, were comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, who said that the central bank can be patient on raising interest rates due to low inflation and uncertainties over US economic prospects. 
 
New orders for US factory goods fell in May on weak demand for transportation and defence capital goods, but growing order backlogs and lean inventories suggested the worst of the manufacturing downturn was probably over. 
 
Investors will be watching out for signs on the US Federal Reserve&#39;s thinking on rates from minutes of its June 14-15 meeting due later in the day. 
 
Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world&#39;s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, increased 3.02 per cent to 982.72 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest since June 2013. 
 
SPDR gold holdings have jumped more than 50 per cent this year so far, heading for biggest annual rise since 2006. 
 
Spot silver&#39;s rally hit a bump on Tuesday as the metal fell 2 per cent, its biggest one-day loss in about three weeks. It was up 1.7 per cent at $20.26. 
 
Among other precious metals, platinum, which was trading at two-month highs, edged 0.2 per cent lower to $1,070.24 an ounce. 
 
Palladium was up 0.3 per cent at $599.47. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Asian shares also tumbled as fears over instability in the EU returned with a vengeance, sending the pound to three-decade low

Gold rose as much as 1 per cent today, hitting the highest in more than two years, as investors piled back into safe havens such as bullion amid renewed market jitters over Britain's decision to leave the European Union (EU). Asian shares also tumbled as fears over instability in the EU returned with a vengeance, sending the pound to three-decade low and hammering risky assets. Spot gold touched its highest since March 2014 at $1,371.40, and was trading up 0.9 per cent at $1,367.20 an ounce by 0401 GMT. It surpassed the $1,358.20 mark hit on June 24 in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. US gold was up 0.8 per cent at $1,369.40. "No one is able to understand how much risk is yet to be unravelled (from Brexit). That is an uncertainty that no one likes. This is what is driving gold prices higher," said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong. Yellow metal is on track to log its biggest yearly gain since 2010 The Bank of England took steps on Tuesday to ensure British banks keep lending as the financial consequences of the decision to leave the EU began to materialise. The yellow metal, often favoured as a hedge against economic and financial uncertainty, has risen about 29 per cent this year and is on track to log its biggest yearly gain since 2010. Further boosting gold, were comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, who said that the central bank can be patient on raising interest rates due to low inflation and uncertainties over US economic prospects. New orders for US factory goods fell in May on weak demand for transportation and defence capital goods, but growing order backlogs and lean inventories suggested the worst of the manufacturing downturn was probably over. Investors will be watching out for signs on the US Federal Reserve's thinking on rates from minutes of its June 14-15 meeting due later in the day. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, increased 3.02 per cent to 982.72 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest since June 2013. SPDR gold holdings have jumped more than 50 per cent this year so far, heading for biggest annual rise since 2006. Spot silver's rally hit a bump on Tuesday as the metal fell 2 per cent, its biggest one-day loss in about three weeks. It was up 1.7 per cent at $20.26. Among other precious metals, platinum, which was trading at two-month highs, edged 0.2 per cent lower to $1,070.24 an ounce. Palladium was up 0.3 per cent at $599.47. (Reuters)

Gold at highest in over two years over renewed Brexit concerns

The pound tumbled to a new 31-year low on Wednesday, dipping below $1.28 at one point before recovering a little, as investors shunned the currency after Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union. 
 
The pound, one of the main vehicles through which financial markets can express concern over the Brexit vote, fell as low as $1.2798 in Asian trading, its lowest since June 1985, before recovering to about $1.2965. That still left it 13 per cent below its levels before the June 23 referendum, and about 0.4 per cent down on the day. 
 
Against the Euro, Sterling hit a three-year trough, trading as weakly as at 86.29 pence per Euro before climbing back to about 85.25 pence, also down 0.3 per cent on the day. 
 
Worries have grown in the past two days about financial stress, highlighted by the Bank of England on Tuesday and by the suspension of trading by three of Britain&#39;s biggest property funds, following an increased number of investor redemption since the referendum. 
 
&quot;The pound is still very volatile after the Brexit vote, and still vulnerable to the downside,&quot; said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ currency economist Lee Hardman. 
 
&quot;Yesterday the main trigger was the reports of signs of distress in the commercial real estate market, which the Bank of England highlighted as one of the financial stability risks in the UK. That created a fairly large sell-off...and Sterling is just recovering some of those falls.&quot; 
 
The latest of the property funds to announce a suspension in customer withdrawals was M&amp;G, the fund management arm of insurer Prudential, which made the announcement after the London market close on Tuesday. 
 
&quot;Clearly Asia came in and didn&#39;t like what it saw in the news flow,&quot; said UBS Wealth Management currency strategist Geoffrey Yu, adding that many international investors also have large exposures to the UK property market. 
 
The Bank of England also expressed concern on Tuesday about a fall in investor demand for British assets, which could make it harder to finance Britain&#39;s large current account deficit, piling further pressure on the pound. 
 
Rate cuts 
 
Next week the BoE will make a decision on interest rates, which are already at record lows. Investors are pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut in August, which is also helping to drive down the pound, but some reckon a cut could come next week. 
 
A Reuters poll of more than 60 foreign exchange strategists forecast the pound at $1.27 by year end from Monday&#39;s close of around $1.30. 
 
&quot;The market is still likely under-pricing BoE easing, with our economists forecasting a 25 basis point rate cut next week followed by a 25 basis point cut at the August meeting,&quot; wrote BNP Paribas strategists in a research note, adding that they also expected an asset-purchase programme to be announced at the November meeting. 
 
Yields on British 10, 20 and 30-year government bonds sank to fresh record lows, extending their slide since the day after the shock referendum result. 
 
The yield on 10-year gilts fell as low as 0.731 per cent, almost half its level on June 23, when Britons were voting in the referendum which many investors had expected to keep Britain in the EU. 
 
(Reuters)

The Pound fell as low as $1.2798 in Asian trading on Wednesday, its lowest since June 1985

The pound tumbled to a new 31-year low on Wednesday, dipping below $1.28 at one point before recovering a little, as investors shunned the currency after Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The pound, one of the main vehicles through which financial markets can express concern over the Brexit vote, fell as low as $1.2798 in Asian trading, its lowest since June 1985, before recovering to about $1.2965. That still left it 13 per cent below its levels before the June 23 referendum, and about 0.4 per cent down on the day. Against the Euro, Sterling hit a three-year trough, trading as weakly as at 86.29 pence per Euro before climbing back to about 85.25 pence, also down 0.3 per cent on the day. Worries have grown in the past two days about financial stress, highlighted by the Bank of England on Tuesday and by the suspension of trading by three of Britain's biggest property funds, following an increased number of investor redemption since the referendum. "The pound is still very volatile after the Brexit vote, and still vulnerable to the downside," said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ currency economist Lee Hardman. "Yesterday the main trigger was the reports of signs of distress in the commercial real estate market, which the Bank of England highlighted as one of the financial stability risks in the UK. That created a fairly large sell-off...and Sterling is just recovering some of those falls." The latest of the property funds to announce a suspension in customer withdrawals was M&G, the fund management arm of insurer Prudential, which made the announcement after the London market close on Tuesday. "Clearly Asia came in and didn't like what it saw in the news flow," said UBS Wealth Management currency strategist Geoffrey Yu, adding that many international investors also have large exposures to the UK property market. The Bank of England also expressed concern on Tuesday about a fall in investor demand for British assets, which could make it harder to finance Britain's large current account deficit, piling further pressure on the pound. Rate cuts Next week the BoE will make a decision on interest rates, which are already at record lows. Investors are pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut in August, which is also helping to drive down the pound, but some reckon a cut could come next week. A Reuters poll of more than 60 foreign exchange strategists forecast the pound at $1.27 by year end from Monday's close of around $1.30. "The market is still likely under-pricing BoE easing, with our economists forecasting a 25 basis point rate cut next week followed by a 25 basis point cut at the August meeting," wrote BNP Paribas strategists in a research note, adding that they also expected an asset-purchase programme to be announced at the November meeting. Yields on British 10, 20 and 30-year government bonds sank to fresh record lows, extending their slide since the day after the shock referendum result. The yield on 10-year gilts fell as low as 0.731 per cent, almost half its level on June 23, when Britons were voting in the referendum which many investors had expected to keep Britain in the EU. (Reuters)

Pound falls to 31-year low as investors shun currency

Former London mayor Boris Johnson, who shocked Britain last week when he decided not to stand to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised the government on Monday for not having a positive plan to make a British exit from the EU work. 
 
Johnson, who led the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, said &quot;hysteria&quot; had gripped those who had supported staying in the bloc, and the government needed to explain the truth about the impact of Brexit. 
 
&quot;There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of (Diana) the Princess of Wales,&quot; Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. 
 
&quot;It was wrong of the government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing, in the event that people voted Leave, to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM.&quot; 
 
The flamboyant and popular Johnson, one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners, had been expected to join the contest to be the new Conservative leader after Cameron announced he would quit following the referendum vote to leave the EU. 
 
However, he pulled out when his ally, justice secretary Michael Gove, decided to run for the job himself, calling Johnson&#39;s abilities into question, which Johnson&#39;s supporters described as an act of Machiavellian treachery. 
 
A new leader is expected to be in place by early September. 
 
Johnson said fears about the impact of leaving the EU had been wildly overdone, saying the stock market had not collapsed and the emergency budget with spending cuts and tax rises had not materialised as finance minister and Remain supporter George Osborne had warned. 
 
Conservative lawmaker Ben Wallace, who was running Johnson&#39;s campaign, said he thought Gove himself was unfit to be the leader himself, calling him a gossip. 
 
&quot;Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be,&quot; Wallace wrote in the Telegraph. 
 
(Reuters)

'There is, among a section of the population, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of Princess Diana'

Former London mayor Boris Johnson, who shocked Britain last week when he decided not to stand to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised the government on Monday for not having a positive plan to make a British exit from the EU work. Johnson, who led the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, said "hysteria" had gripped those who had supported staying in the bloc, and the government needed to explain the truth about the impact of Brexit. "There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of (Diana) the Princess of Wales," Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It was wrong of the government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing, in the event that people voted Leave, to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM." The flamboyant and popular Johnson, one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners, had been expected to join the contest to be the new Conservative leader after Cameron announced he would quit following the referendum vote to leave the EU. However, he pulled out when his ally, justice secretary Michael Gove, decided to run for the job himself, calling Johnson's abilities into question, which Johnson's supporters described as an act of Machiavellian treachery. A new leader is expected to be in place by early September. Johnson said fears about the impact of leaving the EU had been wildly overdone, saying the stock market had not collapsed and the emergency budget with spending cuts and tax rises had not materialised as finance minister and Remain supporter George Osborne had warned. Conservative lawmaker Ben Wallace, who was running Johnson's campaign, said he thought Gove himself was unfit to be the leader himself, calling him a gossip. "Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be," Wallace wrote in the Telegraph. (Reuters)

Ex-London mayor Boris Johnson says UK government needs to spell out Brexit benefits

The leader of Britain&#39;s anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage said on Monday he would stand down after having realised his ambition of winning last month&#39;s referendum in favour of Brexit. 
 
&quot;I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union,&quot; he told reporters. 
 
&quot;So I feel it&#39;s right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.&quot; 
 
&quot;During the referendum campaign, I said &#39;I want my country back&#39;. What I&#39;m saying today, is, &#39;I want my life back&#39;, and it begins right now.&quot; 
 
It is not the first time Farage has quit as leader of the party. He stood down in May 2015 after failing to win a parliamentary seat in last year&#39;s general election, only to withdraw his resignation three days later. 
 
He said he would continue to support the party, and continue to watch Brussels &quot;like a hawk&quot; during the negotiations around Britain&#39;s exit from the EU. 
 
He reiterated his view that Britain&#39;s new prime minister needed to be from the &quot;Leave&quot; campaign but declined to back a specific candidate out of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove or Liam Fox. Current frontrunner Theresa May backed &quot;Remain&quot;. 
 
Farage, 52, has been a member of UKIP since its 1993 birth and was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999. 
 
(Reuters)

A key campaigner of the 'Leave' camp, he will continue to keep a keen watch on the developments

The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage said on Monday he would stand down after having realised his ambition of winning last month's referendum in favour of Brexit. "I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he told reporters. "So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP." "During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back', and it begins right now." It is not the first time Farage has quit as leader of the party. He stood down in May 2015 after failing to win a parliamentary seat in last year's general election, only to withdraw his resignation three days later. He said he would continue to support the party, and continue to watch Brussels "like a hawk" during the negotiations around Britain's exit from the EU. He reiterated his view that Britain's new prime minister needed to be from the "Leave" campaign but declined to back a specific candidate out of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove or Liam Fox. Current frontrunner Theresa May backed "Remain". Farage, 52, has been a member of UKIP since its 1993 birth and was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999. (Reuters)

UKIP leader Nigel Farage says he will step down after Brexit victory

Asian stocks pushed higher again on Monday, building on last week&#39;s rally as central banks around the world promised support to financial markets after Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union (EU) fuelled fears of another rout. 
 
The optimism that characterised last week continued as investors tracked another surge in New York and Europe, helped by upbeat US and Eurozone data. 
 
However, analysts warned there was still a plenty of headwinds as Britain and EU leaders must agree a breakaway deal, while the global economy remained fragile. 
 
Tokyo rose 0.4 per cent by the break, Hong Kong climbed 1.3 per cent, Shanghai added 0.8 per cent and Seoul 0.3 per cent. 
 
South Korea&#39;s promise of $17 billion in stimulus last week came as dealers speculate that Japan will bolster its own multi-billion-dollar programme, while the chances of the US raising interest rates this year have all but evaporated. 
 
On Thursday, Bank of England boss Mark Carney became the latest to provide assurances, indicating policymakers could embark on fresh monetary easing -- raising the possibility of a cut in rates. 
 
Richard Jerram, chief economist at Bank of Singapore, said, &quot;Overall the impact of Brexit on the global economy seems likely to be limited, with the pain concentrated on the UK and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the EU.&quot; 
 
But Nicholas Teo, a trading strategist at KGI Fraser Securities in Singapore, told Bloomberg News, &quot;While the potential for increased liquidity from central banks has helped calm stock markets, there&rsquo;s still a lot of uncertainty out there. 
 
&quot;The strengthening US dollar isn&rsquo;t good for emerging markets. With China still on a slowdown, US recovery tentative and the messy UK-EU divorce, volatility will remain heightened,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
The Pound edged up against the dollar after taking a hammering from the referendum outcome. In early trade it bought $1.3307 against $1.3267 Friday in New York and is well up from the 31-year low $1.3121 touched at the start of last week. 
 
(AFP)

The optimism that characterised last week continued as investors tracked another surge helped by upbeat US and Eurozone data

Asian stocks pushed higher again on Monday, building on last week's rally as central banks around the world promised support to financial markets after Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU) fuelled fears of another rout. The optimism that characterised last week continued as investors tracked another surge in New York and Europe, helped by upbeat US and Eurozone data. However, analysts warned there was still a plenty of headwinds as Britain and EU leaders must agree a breakaway deal, while the global economy remained fragile. Tokyo rose 0.4 per cent by the break, Hong Kong climbed 1.3 per cent, Shanghai added 0.8 per cent and Seoul 0.3 per cent. South Korea's promise of $17 billion in stimulus last week came as dealers speculate that Japan will bolster its own multi-billion-dollar programme, while the chances of the US raising interest rates this year have all but evaporated. On Thursday, Bank of England boss Mark Carney became the latest to provide assurances, indicating policymakers could embark on fresh monetary easing -- raising the possibility of a cut in rates. Richard Jerram, chief economist at Bank of Singapore, said, "Overall the impact of Brexit on the global economy seems likely to be limited, with the pain concentrated on the UK and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the EU." But Nicholas Teo, a trading strategist at KGI Fraser Securities in Singapore, told Bloomberg News, "While the potential for increased liquidity from central banks has helped calm stock markets, there’s still a lot of uncertainty out there. "The strengthening US dollar isn’t good for emerging markets. With China still on a slowdown, US recovery tentative and the messy UK-EU divorce, volatility will remain heightened," he added. The Pound edged up against the dollar after taking a hammering from the referendum outcome. In early trade it bought $1.3307 against $1.3267 Friday in New York and is well up from the 31-year low $1.3121 touched at the start of last week. (AFP)

Asian markets extend rally on central bank hopes

The British government faces a legal challenge to stop it beginning the process of leaving the European Union without an act of Parliament, a law firm announced on Sunday. 
 
Lawyers at Mishcon de Reya argue that the British government cannot trigger Article 50, the legal process for leaving the EU, without a parliamentary debate and vote authorising it to do so. 
 
&quot;The result of the referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it,&quot; said Kasra Nouroozi, a partner at Mishcon de Reya in a statement. 
 
&quot;The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful.&quot; 
 
As a majority of British lawmakers support remaining in the 28-member bloc, the legal challenge has the potential to complicate the process. 
 
Mishcon de Reya said a &quot;group of clients&quot; was behind the legal action, without naming them, though The Lawyer magazine reported the clients were &quot;a group of businesses&quot;. 
 
Once Article 50 is triggered, Britain has two years to negotiate the terms of its exit. 
 
The British government said that the details were still to be worked out. 
 
&quot;We have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements,&quot; a spokeswoman for the cabinet office said. 
 
&quot;Parliament will clearly have a role in making sure that we find the best way forward.&quot; 
 
Mishcon de Reya said it had been in correspondence with government lawyers since June 27, four days after the referendum in which Britain opted to leave the EU in a vote that crashed financial markets and sent shock waves through the continent. 
 
One of the lawyers working on the case is Tom Hickman, co-author of an article that argued the British prime minister alone cannot begin Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. 
 
Without an act of Parliament, &quot;the declaration would be legally ineffective as a matter of domestic law and it would also fail to comply with the requirements of Article 50 itself&quot; it argued. 
 
(AFP)

Lawyers at Mishcon de Reya argued that Article 50 cannot be triggered without a parliamentary debate and vote authorising it to do so

The British government faces a legal challenge to stop it beginning the process of leaving the European Union without an act of Parliament, a law firm announced on Sunday. Lawyers at Mishcon de Reya argue that the British government cannot trigger Article 50, the legal process for leaving the EU, without a parliamentary debate and vote authorising it to do so. "The result of the referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it," said Kasra Nouroozi, a partner at Mishcon de Reya in a statement. "The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful." As a majority of British lawmakers support remaining in the 28-member bloc, the legal challenge has the potential to complicate the process. Mishcon de Reya said a "group of clients" was behind the legal action, without naming them, though The Lawyer magazine reported the clients were "a group of businesses". Once Article 50 is triggered, Britain has two years to negotiate the terms of its exit. The British government said that the details were still to be worked out. "We have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements," a spokeswoman for the cabinet office said. "Parliament will clearly have a role in making sure that we find the best way forward." Mishcon de Reya said it had been in correspondence with government lawyers since June 27, four days after the referendum in which Britain opted to leave the EU in a vote that crashed financial markets and sent shock waves through the continent. One of the lawyers working on the case is Tom Hickman, co-author of an article that argued the British prime minister alone cannot begin Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Without an act of Parliament, "the declaration would be legally ineffective as a matter of domestic law and it would also fail to comply with the requirements of Article 50 itself" it argued. (AFP)

Legal challenge to Britain's EU exit

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in central London on Saturday to march in protest against last week&#39;s vote to leave the European Union (EU), a result that has plunged Britain into political chaos and which most people in the capital rejected. 
 
Most protesters were young adults, and many were draped in EU flags while others waved banners proclaiming slogans like &quot;I`m with EU&quot; or simply &quot;Wrexit&quot;. 
 
&#39;I feel uncertain about my future&#39;&nbsp; 
The protesters chanted &quot;what do we want to do? Stay in the EU,&quot; as they set off for the Westminster political district. 
 
&quot;I was genuinely stunned on the morning after the vote,&quot; said one marcher, Nathaniel Samson, 25, from Hertfordshire north of London. 
 
&quot;I feel deeply uncertain about my future,&quot; he added, &quot;I&#39;m on the march to voice my discontentment. I am accepting the result, but it`s to show that we won`t accept it quietly.&quot; 
 
&#39;Let&#39;s take our fingers off the self-destruct button&#39;&nbsp; 
London voted 60 per cent in favour of remaining in the EU in last Thursday&#39;s referendum, with younger voters widely in favour of staying in the bloc, but 52 per cent of Britons overall cast ballots in favour of leaving. 
 
Rally organiser, King&#39;s College graduate Kieran MacDermott, said, &quot;We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button&quot;. 
 
Parliament should have the final say on whether Britain should leave, he told the BBC. 
 
The vote to leave has prompted a battle within the ruling Conservative party to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron who said he would resign after the result.&nbsp; 
 
The main opposition Labour Party has also turned on itself, with most of its lawmakers in parliament having voted to withdraw support for party leader Jeremy Corbyn after what they saw as his lacklustre contribution to the referendum campaign.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

'What do we want to do? Stay in the EU,' they shouted

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in central London on Saturday to march in protest against last week's vote to leave the European Union (EU), a result that has plunged Britain into political chaos and which most people in the capital rejected. Most protesters were young adults, and many were draped in EU flags while others waved banners proclaiming slogans like "I`m with EU" or simply "Wrexit". 'I feel uncertain about my future' The protesters chanted "what do we want to do? Stay in the EU," as they set off for the Westminster political district. "I was genuinely stunned on the morning after the vote," said one marcher, Nathaniel Samson, 25, from Hertfordshire north of London. "I feel deeply uncertain about my future," he added, "I'm on the march to voice my discontentment. I am accepting the result, but it`s to show that we won`t accept it quietly." 'Let's take our fingers off the self-destruct button' London voted 60 per cent in favour of remaining in the EU in last Thursday's referendum, with younger voters widely in favour of staying in the bloc, but 52 per cent of Britons overall cast ballots in favour of leaving. Rally organiser, King's College graduate Kieran MacDermott, said, "We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button". Parliament should have the final say on whether Britain should leave, he told the BBC. The vote to leave has prompted a battle within the ruling Conservative party to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron who said he would resign after the result. The main opposition Labour Party has also turned on itself, with most of its lawmakers in parliament having voted to withdraw support for party leader Jeremy Corbyn after what they saw as his lacklustre contribution to the referendum campaign. (Reuters)

Thousands of Londoners gather, protest agains Brexit

Britain&#39;s Home Secretary Theresa May, a candidate in the contest to be the UK&#39;s next prime minister and leader of the Conservative party, said today that if she became the next premier she would not trigger article 50 this year to ensure a clear negotiating stance on a post-Brexit deal with the European Union. 
 
May is a front-runner in the contest to be the country&#39;s next prime minister but said that there should still be an election within the party rather than a &quot;coronation&quot; of the most popular candidate. 
 
&quot;I think there should be a contest. I think it&#39;s important that members have their opportunity to have their say. And I think that what people want to hear is what the arguments are and people putting those arguments together and this isn&#39;t a new position that I&#39;ve taken,&quot; she told journalist Robert Peston. 
 
Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after Britons voted to leave the EU on June 23. He had led the campaign for &quot;Remain&quot; alongside May. 
 
May said that the vote was a &quot;very clear message&quot; that the British public wanted control over immigration. 
 
&quot;What I know is that there&#39;s no single silver bullet that actually solves the problems and concerns people have on immigration,&quot; she told Peston on Sunday. &quot;The Brexit vote gave us a very clear message from people that we couldn&#39;t allow free movement to continue as it had done hitherto, we need to bring control into movement of people coming into the UK from the EU.&quot; 
 
Cameron has said his successor would have to decide when to trigger article 50, the formal step that will begin the process of negotiating the terms of Britain&#39;s exit. 
 
May said it was not possible to set an &quot;absolute deadline&quot; and if she were to be the next prime minister she would not invoke article 50 before the end of the year. 
 
&quot;We need to establish our own negotiating position. Of course, once we hit Article 50, once we invoke that the process at the EU level starts, they say that could take up to two years. What&#39;s important for us though is that we get the right deal. And that&#39;s a deal which is about controlling free movement but it&#39;s also about ensuring that we&#39;ve got the best deal possible in trading goods and services,&quot; she said. 
 
Work and Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb, was the first Conservative minister to put himself forward to succeed Cameron and also backed Remain during the referendum campaign. 
 
But he said that his party must unite despite a majority of his colleagues supporting Leave. 
 
&quot;Every day that goes by, the longer that we as colleagues use labels like Remain or Leave to describe each other, the deeper the division that will be in the party,&quot; he told ITV. &quot;And I tell you, if we allow this leadership contest to be seen just through the prism of whether you were leave or remain, we risk splitting the party, mark my words.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

Prime Minister David Cameron said his successor would have to decide when to trigger the formal step that begins the UK's EU exit

Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May, a candidate in the contest to be the UK's next prime minister and leader of the Conservative party, said today that if she became the next premier she would not trigger article 50 this year to ensure a clear negotiating stance on a post-Brexit deal with the European Union. May is a front-runner in the contest to be the country's next prime minister but said that there should still be an election within the party rather than a "coronation" of the most popular candidate. "I think there should be a contest. I think it's important that members have their opportunity to have their say. And I think that what people want to hear is what the arguments are and people putting those arguments together and this isn't a new position that I've taken," she told journalist Robert Peston. Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after Britons voted to leave the EU on June 23. He had led the campaign for "Remain" alongside May. May said that the vote was a "very clear message" that the British public wanted control over immigration. "What I know is that there's no single silver bullet that actually solves the problems and concerns people have on immigration," she told Peston on Sunday. "The Brexit vote gave us a very clear message from people that we couldn't allow free movement to continue as it had done hitherto, we need to bring control into movement of people coming into the UK from the EU." Cameron has said his successor would have to decide when to trigger article 50, the formal step that will begin the process of negotiating the terms of Britain's exit. May said it was not possible to set an "absolute deadline" and if she were to be the next prime minister she would not invoke article 50 before the end of the year. "We need to establish our own negotiating position. Of course, once we hit Article 50, once we invoke that the process at the EU level starts, they say that could take up to two years. What's important for us though is that we get the right deal. And that's a deal which is about controlling free movement but it's also about ensuring that we've got the best deal possible in trading goods and services," she said. Work and Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb, was the first Conservative minister to put himself forward to succeed Cameron and also backed Remain during the referendum campaign. But he said that his party must unite despite a majority of his colleagues supporting Leave. "Every day that goes by, the longer that we as colleagues use labels like Remain or Leave to describe each other, the deeper the division that will be in the party," he told ITV. "And I tell you, if we allow this leadership contest to be seen just through the prism of whether you were leave or remain, we risk splitting the party, mark my words." (Reuters)

Theresa May: Britain needs clear negotiating stance before article 50

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