Pro-Brexit figurehead Michael Gove insisted on Sunday that Prime Minister Theresa May's blueprint for leaving the EU is right "for now" – stressing that future PMs could alter it after Britain's departure.
Environment Secretary Gove was among the main voices advocating a Leave vote in the 2016 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.
However, while other big-name Leavers have quit the cabinet over Mrs May's Brexit proposals to keep Britain close to the EU on trade, Mr Gove is backing the so-called Chequers' master plan.
"I believe the critical thing is making sure we leave in good order with a deal which safeguards the referendum mandate," he told BBC television.
"A future prime minister could always choose to alter the relationship between Britain and the European Union.
"But the Chequers approach is the right one for now because we have got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the European Union."
Mr Gove said the responsibility was now with Brussels "because we've shown flexibility".
"I've compromised," he added. “As a result of Chequers I have to qualify one or two of my views,” Mr Gove said. "I have to acknowledge the parliamentary arithmetic."
Mrs May said she was "irritated" by speculation about a leadership contest as she slammed her former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, seen as her most likely challenger.
Mr Johnson quit in July over the Chequers plan.
Mrs May, the centre-right Conservative Party's leader, said she was focused on securing a Brexit deal rather than her own future, in a BBC television interview on Sunday.
Mrs May blasted Mr Johnson for using "completely inappropriate" language when he described her Brexit blueprint as putting Britain in a "suicide vest".
Asked about her plans to stay in the job, she said: "This is where I get a little bit irritated.
"This debate is not about my future: this debate is about the future of the people of the UK and the future of the United Kingdom.
"That's what I'm focused on and that's what I think we should all be focused on."
Mrs May added it was important to ensure "we get that good deal from the European Union".
Mr Johnson is the bookmakers' favourite to succeed May, ahead of Home Secretary Sajid Javid, backbench leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, Gove and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox – another top Leaver in the cabinet – said Brussels had made "reassuring noises" in recent weeks on the Brexit talks.
"They have understood that Britain is serious that if we don't get a good deal we could end up with no deal," he told Sky News television.
Mr Fox said Chequers was a "reasonable, constructive way forward" and sensed there was "movement" in the right direction from Brussels towards striking a deal.
He ruled out extending the negotiation process – Britain is due to leave at the end of March 2019 – saying such a move would allow the EU "to dictate when Britain will leave".
Mrs May's Conservative minority government includes a sizeable bloc of hardcore Brexiteers, headed by Rees-Mogg, and would likely need the support of the left-wing main opposition Labour Party, or a chunk of their MPs, to get her proposals through parliament.
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Keir Starmer, Labour's Brexit spokesman, said any EU deal must meet Labour's key Brexit tests, which include delivering the "exact same benefits" as Britain has inside the single market and customs union.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
FULL%20RESULTS
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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
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Brief scores:
QPR 0
Watford 1
Capoue 45' 1
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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
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.”
Racecard
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Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
