Wonga stops issuing new loans as company teeters on the edge of administration

LEADING economists are calling to changes in the structure of UK finance as the exploitative 'payday' loans company Wonga stops issuing new loans, as it sits on the verge of bankruptcy.

Wonga has been the subject of an escalating number of claims by customers relating to former loans. The company has lined up an administrator and shareholders have thrown £10m at the company to try to keep it afloat.

New poll from banking reform group Positive Money shows 72 per cent believe banks should have faced harsher penalties after financial crisis as RBS agrees to pay £3.6 billion for misconduct

A MAJORITY of the British public do not trust banks to work in the UK’s interests, believe that banks should have faced greater penalties for their role in the 2008 financial crisis, and worry that the banking sector may cause further economic disaster, new polling has revealed.

As MPs urge action on Russian money laundering in the City of London, CommonSpace looks more closely at the depth of corruption in the City

A REPORT BY the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee has argued that government inaction on money laundering has allowed Russian “kleptocrats and human rights abusers” to hide “dirty money” – but how far will proposed reforms go to addressing systemic corruption in the City of London?

Scottish jobs could be at risk after Brexit, as research bodies could be set to lose vital funding

LEADING SCOTTISH research centres could be set to lose millions in funding after Brexit, as pharmaceutical companies decide whether to relocate out of the UK. 

Motion of support for the “democratic will of the people of Catalonia” passed at SNP’s Autumn conference

THE SNP has further entrenched its support for the people of Catalonia in the aftermath of the embattled Catalan independence referendum with a topical resolution calling for international mediators to find an “agreed solution” to Catalonia’s standoff with the Spanish Government.

Macron faces problems of political polarisation, economic crisis and mass opposition to his policies 

EMMANUEL MACRON has won the French Presidency, defeating his second round far right opponent Marine Le Pen by 66 to 34 per cent.

However, the country is slipping deeper into a crisis of economic decline and political polarisation, marked by mass street movements.

CommonSpace looks at the major obstacles now faced by Macron.

1. The French crisis

Jo Cox’s killer was only the latest in a long line of far right terrorists in the UK

NEO-NAZI TERRORISM is on the rise across Europe, a tendency underlined in the UK by the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by white supremacist Thomas Mair in June.

Green MEP Ska Keller latest German politician to back Scotland in Europe 

THE VICE PRESIDENT of the German Green group in the European parliament has become the latest high profile European politician to back Scotland remaining in the European Union. 

Ska Keller MEP addressed the group’s sister party in Perth today [Saturday 22 October] and pledged support for the democratic right of Scotland to stay within the EU. 

Kier Group among firms to apologise in 2015 for blacklisting trade unionist builders

THE FIRE-DAMAGED Glasgow School of Art (GSoA) is to be reconstructed by a firm involved in the blacklisting of workers.