Samson: UK election results 2019: Boris Johnson wins majority
13th December, 2019
The Conservatives have won at least 326 seats in Thursday’s election – an absolute majority in the UK Parliament. Here are some key takeaways:
Big Tory win
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative party will now take a commanding majority into the next five-year Parliament. With a manifesto that was light on detail, little is known about what Johnson is planning to do, beyond taking Britain out of the European Union.
Labour in the doldrums
The UK’s largest opposition party has lost many seats in its former heartlands — several for the first time in more than a century.
During a disastrous evening, leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would stand aside before the next election.
One MP has already thrown her hat into the ring to succeed the Labour leader. Jess Phillips, a centrist MP who has been a frequent critic of Corbyn’s leftist movement, suggested she will stand in a future leadership contest.
Huge win for Scottish nationalism
It was an extremely successful election for the Scottish National Party who are on course to win most of the 59 seats in Scotland. Such a strong showing could eventually spell the end of the United Kingdom, with the SNP surely set to use its big win as leverage to push for a second independence referendum.
Big fish booted out
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire, and her party failed to make any inroads on a national level.
In Northern Ireland the DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds also lost his seat.
Dominic Grieve and Anna Soubry, Conservative MPs who quit or were sacked from the party by Johnson, also suffered defeats.
Tactical voting fails
Talk of tactical voting failed to materialize in key constituencies, including Chingford and Wood Green. Had they voted together, Labour and Liberal Democrat voters could have kicked out the incumbent MP, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, but he managed to cling on with a majority of 1,262 votes.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats split the vote in the Cities of London and Westminster, leading to the defeat of Labour defector Chuka Umunna, who had criticized Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and left to join the Lib Dems.
Brexit is back on track
The result clears the way for Johnson to take the UK out of the EU in January; European officials say they’re “ready for the next steps.”
*******************
Samson: Trump comments on Johnson’s victory in the British elections
13th December, 2019
US President Donald Trump, on Friday, commented on the results of the British parliamentary elections won by the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Trump tweeted on his Twitter account, saying, “It seems that Boris Johnson has won a big victory in the United Kingdom.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said earlier today, after winning his seat in Uxbridge, that the election results would give the Conservative party a “new and strong mandate” to complete Britain’s exit from the European Union.
“At this point, it appears that this is a conservative government,” Johnson said. “It received a new and strong mandate not only to accomplish Brexit, but to unify and advance the country.”
A poll of voters in the early legislative elections in Britain on Thursday showed that the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson will win an absolute majority in the next House of Commons, which will allow Johnson to fulfill his promise to remove Britain from the European Union in late January.
According to the poll, which was conducted by the Ipsos / Murray Institute for British media, the Conservative Party would win 368 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 191 seats for the Labor Party.
As soon as the news of Johnson’s victory became popular, the price of the British pound jumped more than 2 percent against the dollar and approached 2 percent against the euro.
Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his great WIN! Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT. This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the E.U. Celebrate Boris! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2019
Samson: The United States reaches an initial trade agreement with China
13th December, 2019
A source familiar with the talks between the United States and China revealed that the two countries have reached an agreement in principle to defuse their trade war that has been going on for 17 months.
“The White House announcement is expected at a later time in this regard,” the source told Reuters. “The written agreement is still being drafted, but they have reached agreement in principle,” he added. No other details were available yet.
And two sources familiar with the negotiations said earlier Thursday that in an effort to conclude a one-stage trade agreement, US negotiators have offered to reduce the existing fees on Chinese goods by 50% and to suspend new fees that will come into effect on Sunday.
The US-China trade war has slowed global growth and weakened corporate profits and investments worldwide.
Trade experts believe that if President Donald Trump does not suspend the imposition of new duties, Beijing officials will impose additional tariffs on American goods and may freeze talks after the US presidential election in November 2020.
The fees, to be imposed on December 15, apply to Chinese imports of about $ 160 billion, including video game consoles and computer monitors.
********************
Samson: China is experiencing the largest debt default in 20 years
12th December, 2019
China has seen a major commodity trader defaulted on dollar-denominated bonds, making it the largest failure of debt repayment by a government company in more than two decades.
Today, Thursday, the state-owned Chinese company, Theo Group, announced the results of an unprecedented debt restructuring plan, which included most investors accepting heavy losses, quoting Bloomberg
The company, located in the northern city of Tianjin, said that dollar bond investors, who accounted for 57 percent of total debt owed at $ 1.25 billion, had agreed to get between 37 and 67 cents per dollar based on the maturity of the debt
About 22.6 percent of those bondholders voted to exchange their debts for new bonds with sharply lower coupons, the overseas debt manager told Teo Group
According to Evan Cheng, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, a resident of Hong Kong, this is a form of default on the basis of agency definitions
The debt restructuring plan – the first of its kind for Chinese state-owned companies in the dollar-denominated bond market – comes before a $ 300 million debt maturity date on December 16
The failure of Teo Group to pay off its debts within the dollar denominated bond market is the largest for a Chinese state-owned company since the collapse of Guangdong International Trust and Investment in 1998
This falter comes amid the trend of China to record a new record year of defaults on domestic bonds, against the backdrop of a sharp slowdown in the country’s economic growth, which would be the lowest in three decades
Teo clarified that the settlement of the debt restructuring offers is expected to take place by December 17
