5 Things that mattered 29/7/2018
The big events of the last week including Prime Minister Theresa May's move to put herself at the heart of the Brexit negotiation
Takeover plans
Ministers announce plans for an increase in government scrutiny of foreign takeovers in British industries that present national security concerns.
Under the proposals to be unveiled on Tuesday, dealmakers will be encouraged to notify the government ahead of any transactions that could give rise to security risks.
That will apply even if the takeover targets are very small and even if the deal involves just the acquisition of an asset, intellectual property or shareholding.
PM steps in
Theresa May takes personal control over the UK’s Brexit negotiating team, beefing up her Downing Street operation and attempting to end the rivalries that have undermined her exit strategy.
Around 50 Brexit staff will be transferred into the Cabinet Office, concentrating power over the last phase of Brussels negotiations in the hands of the prime minister and her chief Europe adviser, Olly Robbins.#
Jeremy Hunt warns that without a “change in approach from the EU negotiators”, there is now a “very real risk of a Brexit no deal by accident”.
The foreign secretary said “many” in the EU believed they just had to “wait long enough and Britain will blink” but “that’s not going to happen”.
EU citizen toolkit
Employers across the country are to be given an EU citizen “toolkit” to help staff from the bloc to register for a new immigration status that will be legally required after Brexit.
The Home Office unveiled a package of briefing packs, posters and leaflets at an event involving representatives of some of the biggest employers and groups campaigning to preserve the rights of the estimated 3.5 million to 3.8 million EU citizens living and working in the UK.
Peace breaks out
The US and EU agrees to avoid an all-out trade war and work to lower tariffs, in talks that US President Donald Trump hailed as “a very strong understanding”.
He and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced a “new phase” in EU-US relations, after Wednesday’s meeting at the White House.
Facebook unfriended
More than $119bn (£90.8bn) is wiped off Facebook’s market value, including a $17bn hit to the fortune of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, after the company tells investors that user growth has slowed in the wake of the Cambridge Analutica scandal.
Facebook’s shares plunged 19% on Thursday in New York, a day after the Silicon Valley company revealed that three million users had abandoned the social network since the Observer revealed the Cambridge Analytica breach of 87m Facebook profiles and the introduction of strict European Union data protection legislation.
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