Boris Johnson used what could be his last prime minister's questions on Wednesday to proclaim that his central political legacy of rebalancing the UK economy through "levelling up" north and south would outlast his three years in power.
"We are continuing and every one of the eight candidates will continue with the biggest programme of infrastructure, skills, of technology across this country, to level up in a way that will benefit the constituents of every member of this house," he said.
"It is perfectly true that I leave not at a time of my choosing but I am proud of all the team work that has been involved in all of those projects, both nationally and internationally, and I am also proud of the leadership that I have given."
The words from the man who has led Britain since 2019 were in sharp contrast to the predictions of Rachel Wolf, the co-author of the manifesto that won the party a surprise majority soon after he came to office.
"What I am a little puzzled by over the last few days is the belief that we should junk everything that led us to win in the first place," she told a panel at the Centre for Policy Studies on Wednesday. "I am also slightly astonished that no one has talked about delivering any of the things we promised.
"In two years we are going to be going back to the electorate and they are going to legitimately ask 'what did you do?' Simply saying that in the last six months we cut some taxes is not going to be sufficient to show our competence.
"I am very worried about this. I think we are heading for electoral oblivion," she said. "We do not understand that in 2024 we have to have demonstrated we are capable of delivering something."
The prime minister hinted that a scheduled session of the question-time clash may not happen next week.
"I just want to say to him, really, the next leader of my party may be elected by acclamation so it is possible this will be our last confrontation over this despatch box, it is possible," he told the opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer.
The session was plunged into turmoil at the outset as two Scottish MPs held banners demanding an independence referendum. Alba Party colleagues Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey were ordered to leave the chamber by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle in furious scenes.
Referring to his signature achievement of delivering the referendum to leave the EU, Mr Johnson also predicted that people who hope his departure “will be the end of Brexit” would be wrong.
Mr Johnson struck a defiant tone as he told MPs “we’re going to show them they’re wrong”, saying “if anything I’m even more optimistic".
"I will be leaving soon with my head held high."
A one time ally of Mr Johnson, Lord David Frost told the same CPS panel that the country's "very serious economic" problems needed a radical change in direction. "There is no way of addressing [the problems] that does not involve reducing taxation, reducing spending, bringing competitive forces to bear, bringing free markets to bear and anyone who says there is, is fooling themselves."
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.”
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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