Boris Johnsons Toughest Day in The Commons?.

Yesterday saw the first packed House of Commons session for the first time in almost 17 months as swathes of MPs cut their holidays short to have their voices heard regarding the unfolding Afghanistan crisis.

There is usually votes when parliament has been recalled however, yesterday there was seven-and-a half hours of frustrated, despairing questions and comments surrounding the speed and manner in which the Taliban have regained full control of Afghanistan.

It was a noticeably difficult session for Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, fielding particularly challenging questions from former Prime Minister, Theresa May. May asked whether British intelligence was so poor that we did not anticipate how rapidly the Taliban took control of Kabul, the Afghan capital. May went on to question PM Johnson’s overall leadership and foreign policy objectives.  “What does it say about us as a country?” asked the former PM.

The UK Department of Education has suggested that schools should consider outdoor lessons if five pupils are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for Covid-19. The suggestions have been widely criticised for the impracticality with calls instead for ventilation equipment to be urgently installed in schools.

The US Dollar had a positive day of trading on Wednesday that has carried into the early Asian session in Asia.  The dollar reached a nine-month high against the euro and other currencies as speculation of Fed Tapering in 2021 grows.  The dollar strength has seen the GBP-USD rate grind to below 1.37.  With US Jobless claims data released at lunch time today the market will watch to see if this strength continues.

Economic Calendar