British Prime Minister Theresa May held talks with her ministers on Thursday aimed at restoring Cabinet unity ahead of her hotly anticipated Brexit speech in Florence on Friday.
The Florence event is being seen as an attempt to break the deadlock in negotiations, which have stalled over issues such as the “divorce bill”, the rights of European citizens in the UK and the role of the EU courts.
Brussels is hoping Mrs May will end the logjam with an offer on Britain's financial settlement, which it says is owed upon its departure from the bloc.
The Financial Times reported this week that she may be willing to offer a sum of around 20 billion euros.
If confirmed, that would still fall well below the amount that Brussels is said to be looking for – around 60 billion euros.
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Further details are also expected on a transitional deal, between the date of Britain's official exit in March 2019 and the start of new trading arrangements with the EU.
“What I will be doing on Friday is setting out an update on where we are and looking ahead in the negotiations,” Mrs May told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly this week. “The Council has given a mandate to the Commission, which has appointed Michel Barnier, but the decision will be taken by leaders.”
The comments were taken as an indication that Mrs May is hoping to appeal to the EU’s other 27 heads of government, in an attempt to break the stalemate.
However, EU officials have previously warned against attempts to "divide and rule" the bloc, which has so far shown remarkable unity on the issue of Brexit.
Thursday’s Cabinet meeting was also an attempt by Mrs May to unite her own government, after a damaging intervention by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson which highlighted the differences between ministers over Brexit.
Mr Johnson threw himself back into the Brexit debate last weekend, penning a 4,000 word newspaper article that outlined what he called a "glorious" vision for Britain outside of the EU.
The Foreign Secretary’s intervention led to accusations that he was plotting to replace Mrs May, while others reported that he planned to quit if his blueprint was not followed.
Speaking to reporters at the UN, Mr Johnson denied the reports and insisted his article was merely an “opening drumroll” for Mrs May’s upcoming speech in Florence.
He also stressed the unity in the government, describing it as "a nest of singing birds".
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The Prime Minister shrugged off the row, saying: “Boris is Boris”. During a visit to Canada this week, she insisted that her Cabinet is united over Brexit, and that the government is being driven from the front.
But the reality is that she is treading a fine line, as she seeks to keep the warring sides within the Conservative Party from tearing her government apart.
This week’s row only served to highlight the splits further, with the “three Brexiteers” – Mr Johnson, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Trade Secretary Liam Fox – favouring a clean break from the EU, while the likes of Chancellor Philip Hammond are championing a softer Brexit, including a lengthy transition period for businesses.
Mrs May sought to put on a show of unity with Mr Johnson as they attended the UN event in New York. The pair flew back to the UK together on Wednesday night, landing at dawn before Thursday’s cabinet meeting.
The meeting – which lasted two and a half hours – ended in what appeared to be a carefully orchestrated show of unity, with Mr Johnson and Mr Hammond seen leaving Number 10 together, smiling to waiting reporters.
The Prime Minister’s former co-chief of staff, Nick Timothy, warned that her speech in Florence will not generate “an immediate breakthrough” in the Brexit talks.
Writing in The Telegraph on Thursday, Mr Timothy – who oversaw Mrs May’s last big speech on Brexit at Lancaster House in January – said: “Nobody should anticipate an immediate breakthrough. In public, the Europeans will be surly. Expect negative briefing from the commission, sarcasm from Guy Verhofstadt, and a polite but not positive reply from Michel Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker.”
However, Mr Timothy said there was a chance that EU leaders would be more positive in private. He also claimed that Mrs May’s likely olive branch on the divorce bill, “on condition that the price is reasonable and our future relationship is agreed” - should “prompt further talks that will get the negotiators to stage two”.
Stage two refers to the next chapter in the talks, which will be on the future trade relationship between the UK and the EU. But officials in Brussels have insisted that such talks cannot commence until sufficient headway is made on the issue of money, EU citizens’ rights and the Irish border.
The fourth round of Brexit talks is due to begin on September 25, after the last session in August broke up without significant progress.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
