‘Out of touch Tories have ruined London for tourists’

Daniel Woolfson
Sun, 5 November 2023 

Savile Row business leaders call for the return of VAT-free shopping to the UK

- Paul Grover

Savile Row has a long association with the Tory Party: Sir Winston Churchill kept an account at Henry Poole & Co until a row over an unpaid bill in 1937 ended the association, while more recently David Cameron was known for his penchant for Richard James suits.

Yet the Conservatives were persona non grata on the storied tailoring street last week.

Fifty or so luxury business chiefs gathered on Savile Row in the spitting rain to protest against Rishi Sunak’s tourist tax. None had good words to say about the current government.

“I don’t quite understand why the Treasury doesn’t seem to be able to explain why this is such a good idea that everyone’s losing money all over the country,” says Kiki McDonough, the founder of the eponymous jewellery chain, whose earrings typically cost upwards of £4,000.

“I mean, seriously, how out of touch do you have to be?”

The throng, which included the longstanding Tory donor and hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, were there to call for the return of VAT-free shopping to the UK.

Retailers ranging from clothing brands to jewellery makers have been up in arms since the perk was axed by Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2021.

Tax-free shopping is still available in Europe and business chiefs argue the loss of VAT-free shopping has damaged the UK’s status as a global destination.

Anda Rowland, director of the Savile Row tailor Anderson & Sheppard, which has clothed Cary Grant and Fred Astaire among others, says: “The idea that this is not a discretionary spend, that customers aren’t going to shop around, is just nonsense. If they can find something similar or the same, and get 20pc off, they will. And people who lose out in the long term are going to be British businesses and jobs.”

It is a particular bugbear of the luxury industry, where the VAT tax break was more attractive to buyers given the high prices of goods.

Harrods boss Michael Ward is among those that have pushed back against VAT charges on tourists' purchases - REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

More than 400 senior executives have added their names to a campaign to abolish the tourist tax and the chiefs of Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Burberry, among others, have all spoken out against the policy.

However, Caroline Rush, managing director of the British Fashion Council, says it’s not just major retailers suffering.

She says: “They think that it’s a luxury tax for the big business, but actually, it’s the independents that rely on the international tourists, and some of their biggest customers that just aren’t coming to London or aren’t shopping in London.”

Outwardly at least, the Government has largely refused to budge on the issue, despite mounting pressure. “Rishi is still privately insisting this is primarily a problem for a few luxury retailers in the West End,” says an industry source.

However, there are signs that Mr Sunak’s position may be softening.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was in Japan a fortnight ago to promote British luxury brands in Tokyo and to attend the G7 Trade Summit in Osaka.

Her agenda in Tokyo also included exploring how the Japanese duty-free system works. She is understood to have been impressed by Japan’s approach to tax-free shopping.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch used her recent trip to Japan to explores the country's approach to tax-free shopping

In Japan, travellers can qualify for tax-free shopping as long as they are in the country for no longer than six months and if the items they buy cost above a certain price.

Retailers have to obtain a special licence to sell tax-free goods and confirm that their customers meet certain requirements. In those stores that do offer tax-free shopping, the tax is either deducted from the purchase price at the tills or can be refunded at a dedicated tax-free counter.

Tourists have to present their passport upon sale.

While the ‘tourist tax’ is ultimately a matter for the Treasury, Badenoch, who is the bookies’ favourite to be the next Conservative Party leader, is taking a proactive role in examining alternatives.

She told The Telegraph last week: “What I can do is look at options for what a new system could look like if the Treasury ever made the decision to switch it back on.”

Japan’s system is not without its issues: the country is currently considering whether it should reform the scheme to combat a rise in tax-free items being sold for a mark up outside of the country.

Still, news that a senior minister is at least considering what a potential new approach could look like will be greeted positively by the retail industry.

The Treasury has insisted that restoring VAT-free shopping is too expensive and would come at a cost of around £2bn a year at a time when the Government is trying to pay down the nation’s debts.

It has pointed to the examples of Canada and New Zealand, which do not offer VAT-free shopping, and the USA, which does not on a country-wide basis, but are all popular tourist destinations nonetheless.

Since VAT-free shopping was done away with, figures show that tourism itself has risen but the amount of money spent at British tills has dwindled.

Visits to the UK from the US rose by 17pc in the second quarter of 2023 compared to 2019, but the amount of cash they spent in the West End of London fell by 1pc. Over the same period, spending by American tourists in France rose by 183pc and 174pc in Spain.

Middle Eastern shoppers, once a lucrative source of income for the West End, have also cut their spending in the capital.

Non-UK visitors can still access VAT-free shopping if they have the products sent directly to their overseas address, but retailers say this is not as popular as being able to take the clothes away with them.

“The whole idea of having a great time in London, ordering some things, having a wonderful time, picking them up, wearing them to restaurants... that’s gone,” says Rowland.

Whether this opprobrium will be enough to convince the Prime Minister to make a u-turn remains to be seen. At the very least, the executives that gathered in Savile Row last week will be hoping Badenoch’s alternatives are gaining traction in Downing Street.

A spokesman for HM Treasury said: “VAT-free shopping does not directly benefit Brits – it allows foreign tourists who buy items in the UK to claim back VAT as they return home.

“Evidence shows that the key motivators for tourists visiting the UK are our rich history and heritage, and vibrant towns and cities – not shopping.”

Submarine inventor honoured with sculpture made from recycled plane parts

David Young, PA
Sun, 5 November 2023 

In this article:
John Philip Holland
Irish engineer


A descendant of the Irish-born inventor of the modern-day submarine has created a sculpture in his honour, made from recycled airliner parts.

John Phillip Holland, who grew up in Co Clare before emigrating to the United States, developed the first modern submarine in the 1870s – a design that was formally commissioned by the US Navy.

The aero marine engineer also worked on early flying machine designs.

Shane Holland is a descendant of submarine inventor John Phillip Holland

 (Fintan Clarke Photography/PA)

One of the inventor’s descendants is acclaimed Irish industrial designer Shane Holland.

He has now made a huge 3.5m (11ft 6in) sculpture from aluminium, titanium and recycled glass in tribute to his famous ancestor.

Recycled parts from a Boeing 707 are incorporated into the piece, which is called Submarinocurraplane.

Mr Holland’s celebration of aviation, marine engineering and heritage craft will be on display at the Art Source fair at the RDS in Dublin later this month.

More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the art show from November 10-12.

Art Source features 200 of the best in contemporary Irish and international artists and galleries.

Mr Holland said: “I first discovered I was distantly related to John Phillip Holland when another relative I’d never met arrived at my workshop in Duleek, Co Meath, before Covid-19 to tell me about the links.

“I have the same initials of JP Holland too. I was named John after my dad but my mam changed it immediately to the Irish derivative of Shane to avoid confusion in the house.

“I work closely with the staff at the recycling business near my workshop, and one day they gave me a call to tell me to get down there because they were expecting a truckload of aviation stuff that they knew I’d be interested in.

“There were great pieces from Boeing 707 planes and, when I assembled them, they looked almost like a submarine so I decided there and then to make a sculpture to acknowledge this huge maritime invention by my ancestor.

“I am captain of the currach team in Skerries and a boat builder, so I used currach-making techniques to finish off the sculpture form, as Holland would’ve used currachs in both his native Co Clare and along the Boyne.

“He also taught maths and music in Drogheda, Co Louth, and would have tested the early submersible designs with his students up the River Boyne, near me, so there are a lot of parallels between us.”

Mr Holland is also an environmental activist and has used his currach to make more than 100 visits to the islands off Skerries, where he and his crews have cleared around 17,500 pieces of dumped plastic from the water.

Shane Holland is also an environmental activist

 (Fintan Clarke Photography/PA)

The designer added: “Plastic bottles, gloves, life jackets, surfboards and fishing tackle are what we have gathered from the sea during our trips, and about 30 pairs of shoes, which I’ve also turned into a Soles Of The Sea exhibit.

“I think what John Holland achieved was huge, yet he died in poverty.

“But I think, if I met him at Art Source, I’d say ‘You were some fella to keep going until you realised your dream’. I’d like to think I’m like him in that way too.”

Art lovers will have the chance to get their hands on 100 pieces of original artwork for 100 euro each on a first-come, first-served basis on the opening morning of the show on Friday November 10.

For more information visit artsource.ie

Irish American Heritage Month: John Philip Holland, Inventor of the Modern Submarine

March 4, 2022 By Mike McCormack

Did you know that an Irishman invented the first modern submarine? His name was John Philip Holland and he was born in Liscannor, Co. Clare, Ireland, on February 24, 1841. He experienced the Irish potato failure suffering poor eyesight as a result. His father was a member of the Coast Guards, and young John inherited a love of the sea. Although his poor eyesight prevented him from following in his father’s footsteps, he developed an interest in ship design. John attended the Christian Brothers School where he came under the influence of Brother Dominic Burke, a science teacher, who encouraged his interest in ships. By the end of the 1850s, John had drawn his first plans for a submarine. When he left school, he joined the Christian Brothers as a teacher. Holland studied the attempts of Bourne, Bushnell, and Fulton at underwater sailing. In 1862, he read an account of the first combat between armored ships: the historic confrontation of the Monitor and Virginia in America’s Civil War and noted English concern since their country’s strength lay in their wooden ship Navy which was now vulnerable.

The Fenian Ram

Then, the Union ship Housatonic was sunk by the Confederate underwater craft Hunley. Though it was unstable and sunk with its entire crew, it verified the importance of Holland’s ideas. Unable to promote interest in Ireland, he left the Christian Brothers and came to America in 1872. He found employment in St. John’s School in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1875, he offered his plan for a submersible boat to the U.S. Navy, but it was rejected as a “fantastic scheme.” He was sure if he could raise the money for a prototype vessel, he could convince the skeptics, but money was hard to find. In 1876, as his brother and other patriotic young Irishmen had done before him, Holland joined the Fenian Brotherhood, a rebel organization dedicated to freeing Ireland from British rule. Here he found interest in his plans for a weapon that could sink the British Navy. Delighted with the prospect of striking a blow for Ireland, the Fenians financed Holland’s project. He constructed a prototype and in 1878 the 14-foot, one-man, Holland I slipped beneath the waves of the Passaic River. Impressed, the Fenians provided $23,000 for a full-sized version. In 1881, Holland completed a 31-foot, 3-man submarine of 20-tons displacement complete with a torpedo tube and fittings for armaments. Spectators stared as the sub went through its trials, and newsmen dubbed it ‘The Fenian Ram’’ in recognition of its origin and purpose. Holland continued to test and refine his design. In 1882, an impatient Fenian leader, John Breslin, stole the Ram and took it to New Haven to be launched; unfortunately, with no knowledge of its operation, it sank, and the project was abandoned.

Holland kept trying the U.S. Government, and in 1895, he finally won a $150,000. U.S. Navy contract to build a submarine, but the Navy insisted on alterations which Holland said would make it a failure. So, while building a sub to their specifications, the headstrong inventor also built the 53-foot, 63-ton, Holland VI to his own specifications. After the predicted failure of the Navy design, Holland floated out his alternative vessel. The trials took place at New Suffolk on Long Island, NY and were a total success. In 1900, Holland VI became the U.S.S. Holland – the first American submarine, and the Holland Torpedo Boat Company received an order for six more.

The Holland (SS-01) at the U.S. Naval Academy

The brainchild of the tenacious Irish immigrant became the prototype for the greatest submarine fleet in the world and financier Isaac Rice, and others backed Holland forming the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, later a division of General Dynamics. Rice dealt with both the U.S. and British governments, selling them the original patents much to the chagrin of their inventor and the Fenian Brotherhood. Holland spent years in costly litigation trying to reclaim his patents. On August 12, 1914, he died in Newark, N.J. as the Germans and British were readying their respective Navies for war and the eyes of both fleets were submarines, built with Holland’s principles. John P Holland was soon forgotten. For 61 years, he lay in an unmarked grave until public attention was focused on the historical oversight in 1975 and a memorial headstone was erected. Years later, another was erected in its place, and the original stone was transferred to his home town of Liscannor, Co. Clare and dedicated by the U.S. Navy Submarine Force.

As for Holland’s first sub, the Fenian Ram, it would have made Holland proud for it did strike a blow against the Crown; it was salvaged in 1916 and used in a fund-raising campaign for Ireland’s Easter Rising. After that, it ended up in a shed behind the Paterson Museum. In 1988, the office of National Historian of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) learned of its location and asked the museum its intentions. The museum responded that they had a plan, but a lack of funds kept them from creating a proper display. The AOH sponsored a nationwide fund-raising effort and in 1990, presented the museum with a check for $12,000.00. Today the Fenian Ram can be seen as the centerpiece of an elaborate exhibit to Holland in a special section of the Paterson Museum for he truly was one of the Irish who helped make America great.

A long overdue ceremony took place on April 8, 2000, when a monument was also dedicated to the memory of Holland’s accomplishment, at what is now recognized as the first U.S. Submarine Base in New Suffolk, Long Island organized by the U.S. Navy Submarine Veterans.

Mike McCormack, National Historian

THIS IRISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH  PROFILE IS PRESENTED BY THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS (AOH.COM)

Smog-ridden New Delhi extends schools shutdown

AND FIRE FESTIVAL DIWALI IS THIS MONTH

AFP
Sun, 5 November 2023 

Every autumn New Delhi is blanketed by a carpet of acrid smog, primarily blamed on stubble-burning by farmers in the neighbouring agrarian states (ARUN THAKUR)

Authorities in India's smog-ridden capital New Delhi on Sunday extended an emergency schools closure by a week, with no signs of improvement in the megacity's choking levels of pollution.

New Delhi is blanketed in acrid smog every autumn, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in the neighbouring agrarian states.

The city is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted on the planet, with its annual smog blamed for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year.


"As pollution levels continue to remain high, primary schools in Delhi will stay closed till 10th November," Delhi state's education minister Atishi posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Secondary schools "are being given the option of shifting to online classes," added Atishi, who uses only one name, after days of high pollution levels.

The Indian capital -- which has a population of 30 million -- once again ranked as the world's most polluted city Sunday, according to monitoring firm IQAir.

Delhi state annually imposes restrictions on construction activities and orders some vehicles off roads when pollution reaches severe levels.

But critics say that governments wilfully ignore the agricultural primary source of the public health crisis.

The farmers in neighbouring states are a powerful electoral lobby and leaders have long resisted calls to impose strict fines and other punitive measures on them for their actions.

New Delhi is set to host a cricket World Cup match on Monday between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

But both teams cancelled their scheduled pre-match training sessions in recent days over health risks from the smog.

-'No choice'-

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha admitted on Sunday that they have "no choice" but to play.

"We were concerned. We are trying to minimise our exposure to the outdoors as much as possible," he told reporters.

"The air quality is affecting both teams. It's not ideal, but we have no choice. We have to play in the conditions in front of us."

Some asthmatic players had not attended training, he added.

Severe smog levels are expected to persist in the city for several more weeks.

Levels of the most dangerous PM2.5 particles -- so tiny they can enter the bloodstream -- reached 570 micrograms per cubic metre on Sunday according to IQAir, nearly 40 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.

A Lancet study in 2020 attributed 1.67 million deaths to air pollution in India during the previous year, including almost 17,500 in New Delhi.

And the average city resident could die nearly 12 years earlier than expected due to air pollution, according to an August report by the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute.


India is heavily reliant on polluting coal for energy generation, resisting calls to phase it out, and its per capita coal emissions have risen 29 percent in the past seven years.

bb/slb/dhw

PHOTO OP - NO COMMENT
Blinken meets Abbas in surprise West Bank visit: Palestinian Authority

AFP
Sun, 5 November 2023 

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (R) meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah (-)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a high-security surprise visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Sunday, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, according to photographs released by the Palestinian Authority.

The top US diplomat met with Abbas in Ramallah as global concern grows over rising violence in the occupied territory in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since October 7.

LEAK BY ANY OTHER NAME
Netanyahu suspends Israeli minister for saying dropping nuclear bomb on Gaza 'one of the possibilities'


Sky News
Sun, 5 November 2023 

In this article:

An Israeli junior minister who said dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was "one of the possibilities" in the Hamas war has been suspended, with Benjamin Netanyahu saying the statement was "not based in reality".

Junior minister Amihai Eliyahu, of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party, made the claim in an interview with Kol Beramah radio.

A minister for Jewish heritage, he is not part of the country's war cabinet, created in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on 7 October. He holds no sway over government decision-making in the war, The Times of Israel pointed out.


Still, the inflammatory statement was immediately denounced by other cabinet members - and Mr Eliyahu backtracked later by saying that "anyone reasonable would understand that the comment was metaphorical".

"But we definitely need to respond powerfully and disproportionately to terrorism," he added.

Follow Israel-Hamas latest: Blinken in West Bank for first time since war

Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, said: "It's a good thing that people like this are not in charge of Israel's security."

Israel's opposition leader immediately called for Mr Eliyahu's sacking.

Yair Lapid said the comment was a "shocking and crazy statement by an irresponsible minister".

"Netanyahu must fire him this morning," he said in a statement posted to X.

Mr Netanyahu suspended Mr Eliyahu from cabinet meetings until further notice, Army Radio said.

On X, Mr Netanyahu said: "Minister Amihai Eliyahu's statements are not based in reality.

"Israel and the IDF are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents.

"We will continue to do so until our victory."

Bangladesh arrests 8,000 opposition activists: report

AFP
Sun, 5 November 2023 

Police stand guard in front of the headquarters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which says its top official is among those detained in a nationwide crackdown (Munir uz zaman)

Bangladesh police have arrested nearly 8,000 opposition figures in a nationwide crackdown since officers broke up a major rally in the capital a week ago, a report said Sunday.

The sweeping wave of detentions comes ahead of a general election due in January.

The country's major opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and its allies have been staging giant rallies in recent months demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down and allow a neutral government to supervise the vote.


Hasina has overseen impressive growth in her 15 years of power, but she has been accused of ruling the South Asian nation with an iron fist.

The United States has imposed sanctions on some of its most senior police figures for widespread human rights violations.

More than 100,000 opposition supporters joined a "grand rally" in central Dhaka last Saturday, when a policeman was killed in clashes.

Since then police have launched a widespread crackdown on the BNP, arresting thousands of activists and accusing at least 162 of its top leaders of murdering the officer.

The country's best-read and most respected newspaper Prothom Alo reported Sunday that at least 7,835 people had been held, based on reports from its correspondents across the country.

National police spokesman Abir Siddique Shuvra, could not give AFP an exact number of detentions, but said those arrested faced criminal cases and warrants.

"It is impossible to give an exact figure. Police are doing our regular work," he said.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police previously said that it had arrested more than 2,100 people over charges of violence since last Saturday.

According to the BNP, those detained include its top official in Bangladesh, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and his number two Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

On Sunday the country's Rapid Action Battalion, arrested BNP vice president Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, a former home minister and air force chief.

The arrests came as BNP has enforced a new 48-hour long nationwide transport blockade as part of its new anti-government protests, bringing inter-city bus and lorry transport almost to a halt.

At least 11 buses were torched over the weekend, a fire service spokesman said.

Police say that as well as the officer, at least four people have been killed since last Saturday, while according to the BNP at least nine of its activists have died and more than 3,000 been injured.

The resurgent opposition has been mounting protests against Hasina since September last year, despite its ailing chairperson Khaleda Zia being effectively under house arrest since her release from prison after a conviction on corruption charges.

Hasina's ruling Awami League dominates the legislature in Bangladesh and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.

Her security forces are accused of detaining tens of thousands of opposition activists, killing hundreds in extrajudicial encounters and disappearing hundreds of leaders and supporters.

sa/slb/mtp

What rental market trends tell us about Canada’s housing affordability problem



Sponsored by CMHC
October 26, 2023·

Photo via Getty Images (Jacob Wackerhausen via Getty Images)

While the news may come as no surprise to anyone following recent Canadian housing trends, CMHC’s Rental Market Report released earlier this year confirms that Vancouver and Toronto still have some of the country’s highest average rents, and this phenomenon is growing across the country.

What’s driving Canada’s ongoing rental housing affordability problem? Rising house prices don’t just affect prospective homebuyers, but renters as well, with rents soaring as supply dwindles as a result of surging demand for housing. It’s all part of Canada’s larger interconnected housing challenge—one that CMHC is partnering with other levels of government, along with private and non-profit sectors, to help solve.

Here’s a closer look at a few of the factors behind recent rental market trends, what they mean for Canadians, and the work being done to help address these issues.
Surging rental demand

Photo via Getty Images (ranplett via Getty Images)

One potentially surprising highlight from CMHC’s 2023 Rental Market Report is that Canada’s rental supply actually increased in 2022. In fact, the country’s rental market recorded its strongest rate of growth since 2013, with about 55,000 more purpose-built rental apartments hitting the market between October 2021 and October 2022.

It still wasn’t enough to match surging demand for rental properties across the country, however, which helped drive the national vacancy rate down from 3.1% to 1.9% in 2022. This downward trend was reflected in declining vacancy rates across Canada’s largest rental markets (Vancouver, Montréal and Toronto), with Toronto reporting an especially steep decline in vacancies.

What is driving this surge in rental demand? Higher net migration, along with increased housing prices, combined with higher mortgage interest rates—all of which contributed to making the transition to homeownership financially prohibitive for many buyers. As those buyers continue renting in an attempt to wait out a sellers’ market, the result is a more competitive rental market as well.
Lack of affordable rental housing

Photo via Getty Images (PeopleImages via Getty Images)

Another concerning takeaway from CMHC’s 2023 Rental Market Report is the ongoing lack of affordable rental properties across Canada. For the lowest-income renters, the share of available rental units is critically low in most major markets.

Take Vancouver, for example, where only 1% of the available rental supply can be considered affordable for renters with the lowest 20% of incomes. Québec leads here with 25% of units affordable to lower-income Canadians, but otherwise, the overall national trend shows increasingly tight market conditions for low-income renters.

Due to this tightening of rental markets, rent growth (i.e. the increase in the cost to rent) reached a new high last year, with an overall price increase of 5.6%. In Toronto and Vancouver especially, higher rent growth reflected this widespread increase across the country. Average rents for a purpose-built 2-bedroom apartment in Toronto and Vancouver ($1,779 and $2,002, respectively) were both well above Canada’s national average of $1,258 last year—not coincidentally, these markets also have some of the country’s highest average home prices.
Increased rent for new tenants

Photo via Getty Images (svetikd via Getty Images)

Recent analysis from CMHC shows that new tenants are facing even tougher market conditions on top of this overall tightening, paying significantly higher rents compared to existing tenants. The average rent growth for 2-bedroom units that turned over to a new tenant was 18.3%, compared to the rent growth for similar-sized units retained by existing tenants—which went up by 2.9%.

This gap was even wider in Canada’s most populous cities. In Toronto, the average rent for a non-turnover 2-bedroom was $1,600 in 2022, while comparative units that experienced turnover cost new tenants $2,110 on average. In Vancouver, those figures stood at $1,847 and $2,325, respectively—although it’s worth noting that this is not solely a Toronto and Vancouver issue. This widening gap is also quite present in other urban markets across Canada, including Hamilton, London, Windsor, and Halifax.

These figures are symptomatic of an increasingly stressed housing supply, as rising demand drives scarcity, which in turn pushes rents higher as newly-vacated units return to an overheated market.
Restoring housing affordability

Photo via Getty Images (Drazen Zigic via Getty Images)

CMHC has estimated that an additional 3.5 million housing units are required to achieve affordability by 2030. Restoring housing affordability in Canada will require creative solutions to increase Canada’s rental supply until it matches up with demand.

This will necessitate more private-sector investment to build more supply, particularly in the rental sector. To help increase supply, CMHC launched the Rental Construction Finance Initiative, which aims to build more rental apartments in markets that desperately need it.

CMHC also provides additional incentives to support affordable rental housing projects, including mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit properties (i.e. buildings containing five or more units). By providing access to preferred interest rates, CMHC helps lower borrowing costs for the construction, purchase, and refinancing of multi-unit residential properties, and facilitates renewals.

CMHC also supports the Government of Canada in delivering the National Housing Strategy (NHS). The NHS consists of complementary housing programs and initiatives that aim to give more people living in Canada a place to call home.
Learn more about the work CMHC is doing to rise to the housing challenges of today and tomorrow here.

WORKERS CAPITAL

China basic pension fund posts 0.33% investment gain in 2022

Reuters
Fri, November 3, 2023 

View of the city skyline in Shanghai

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The basic pension fund managed by China's social security fund gained 5.1 billion yuan, or 0.33% in 2022, down from a 4.9% gain in 2021, the National Council for Social Security Fund said on Saturday.

The shrink in yield was mainly impacted by deep changes in global economic and political situations and increasing fluctuations in the financial markets, the state investor said in a statement.

China's stock benchmark CSI 300 lost 21.6% in 2022 and so far this year is down 7.4%.

The basic pension fund manages a total 1.62 trillion yuan by the end of 2022, and has posed an annual average gain of 5.4% since the end of 2016, when the national social security fund started to manage the pension's investment.

Separately, the national social security fund reported a 5.07%, or 138 billion yuan loss for the year of 2022, it said in a report in September.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Michael Perry

Two Fuels That Power the Global Economy Flash Red in Europe



Jack Wittels, Elizabeth Low and Chunzi Xu
Sat, November 4, 2023





(Bloomberg) -- If the oil market offers clues about the state of the economy, it’s through the prism of two petroleum products: diesel and naphtha. And in Europe, the news is bleak.

The former powers trucks, trains, ships and industries including farming and construction. The latter is used by the petrochemical sector to make everything from medical equipment to chewing gum. OECD Europe’s annual consumption of both is set to plunge this year, with naphtha hitting its lowest since 1975.

“Europe’s weak economic growth has hit the manufacturing sector hard,” said Alan Gelder, vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets at consultancy Wood Mackenzie Ltd. That’s reduced “demand for naphtha as a petrochemical feedstock and diesel for the manufacturing and movement of goods.”

The continent’s demand is still critically important even in a world where traders are intently focused on the potential for supply disruptions emanating from war in the Middle East. The expected consumption drop in the two fuel types this year is well over half a million barrels-a-day versus pre-pandemic levels — not far off a Belgium’s worth of overall oil usage.

As a major importer of diesel-type fuel from the Middle East, India and the US, and a regular exporter of naphtha to East Asia and Latin America, any significant drop in Europe’s usage is likely to have knock-on effects for economies and oil markets around the world.

Part of this year’s demand decline is due to long-term, structural trends. Buyers in the European Union have long been favoring gasoline-powered options over diesel, and electric car sales have also hit consumption.

But Europe’s economic malaise is a big factor too. Purchasing managers’ index data show ongoing contractions in the euro zone’s construction and manufacturing, while inflation remains above target. Germany’s economy, the European Union’s largest, shrank last quarter and is at risk of entering recession.

The numbers on naphtha are stark: consumption is set to fall more than a quarter this year versus 2021 to 844,000 barrels-a-day, the lowest it’s been in 48 years, according to Ciaran Healy, an oil market analyst at the International Energy Agency. While naphtha is also used in blending to make gasoline, the watchdog’s consumption measurement doesn’t include this uptake — instead, the vast majority is for use as a petrochemical feedstock.

Run rates at petrochemical steam crackers — huge units that convert naphtha and other feedstock into the industry’s basic chemical building blocks — have plunged, according to data from Argus Media Ltd. Producer OMV AG on Tuesday also dropped its forecast for European steam cracker utilization.

Petrochemical giant BASF SE meanwhile attributed slower European chemical production to “lower demand resulting from high inflation, increased interest rates, and a renewed rise in natural gas prices” on Tuesday.

Diesel Downtrend

In the continent’s top five economies — Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain — recent data all show contractions in demand for diesel-type fuel.

French road diesel sales fell by 13.4% versus a year earlier in September. In Germany, overall oil demand is expected to drop by about 90,000 barrels-a-day this year, more than any other country in the world — bar Pakistan.

See also: German Oil Demand Drops as Europe’s Industrial Powerhouse Stalls

Overall, OECD Europe’s diesel-type fuel demand is set to be down by about 380,000 barrels-a-day this year versus the 2019 pre-pandemic level, according to the IEA.

Mixed Picture

The global picture is more mixed. In China, demand is booming despite the travails of its property sector: during January-August of this year, diesel-type fuel was up by 40% versus the same period in 2019 and naphtha consumption has more than doubled in the corresponding period, according to JODI data.

China has seen massive investment in petrochemical capacity. A jump in production has pushed many of the industry’s products — such as ethylene, propylene and aromatics into oversupply — even as they’ve boosted the country’s attractiveness as a manufacturing hub, said Amber Liu, Asia head of petrochemical analytics for ICIS.

“China has some of the most efficient supply chains — after the petrochemicals expansions — so the prices of China’s finished products are extremely competitive compared to other countries,” said Liu.

In the US, implied demand for distillates — which include diesel and heating oil — has fallen below seasonal norms in the past few weeks.

Going forward, the nation’s distillates demand is expected to stay below that of year-ago levels in the fourth quarter before picking up early next year, according to government forecasts.

Still, the trucking industry is showing signs of nascent recovery, and rail freight is rising as well, analysts at JPMorgan said.

Naphtha is typically used to make gasoline in the US while cheaper natural gas liquids — a byproduct of drilling shale oil — have become the preferred feedstock for petrochemicals.

For Europe, “the outlook for 2024 remains weak for both products,” Gelder said.

--With assistance from Rachel Graham.

Climate Negotiators Reach Framework to Aid Vulnerable Countries

Jennifer A. Dlouhy and John Ainger
Sat, November 4, 2023 




(Bloomberg) -- Global climate negotiators reached a framework for a fund to help vulnerable nations deal with loss and damage from increasingly extreme weather, though the breakthrough was marred by sparring over exactly how the program would be funded.

Delegates meeting in Abu Dhabi agreed late Saturday that the World Bank will host a new Loss and Damage Fund on an interim basis for four years — breaking an impasse after months of negotiations. They also set basic guideposts for funding, with developed countries urged to provide support. The discussion next heads to the United Nations climate change summit known as COP28, which starts in Dubai later this month.

“Billions of people, lives and livelihoods who are vulnerable to the effects of climate change depend upon the adoption of this recommended approach,” said Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of COP28. The document is “clear and strong” and “paves the way for agreement,” he said.

Human rights activists and representatives from poorer nations said they were disappointed to leave without a commitment for an immediate and significant infusion of money, and tensions now threaten to spill over into the broader climate talks. Even as the pact was reached, the lead US representative objected it didn’t reflect consensus.

Poor nations had sought specific language making clear the burden for funding falls on wealthy nations that built their economies by burning fossil fuels — and have released the bulk of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today. Vulnerable nations had been reluctant to situate the fund within the World Bank amid concerns it will sufficiently prioritize climate action.

The committee “delivered on its mandate, but it was the furthest thing imaginable from a success,” said Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA. “Developing countries showed massive flexibility, giving concessions from the very beginning,” but developed nations “simply dug in their heels.”

Read more: US Plan for Loss and Damage Fund Sparks Anger in Run Up to COP28

The final language doesn’t demand immediate capitalization of the fund and doesn’t indicate the intended scale of those contributions, said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network-International.

“We are only looking at an empty bank account,” Singh said in an interview. “It doesn’t go far enough to support communities who are facing climate emergencies now” and address needs that “are already running into hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Human rights activists blamed the US and other developed nations for fighting language that would specify rich, historic polluters have an obligation to pay into the fund.

Still Developing

Sparring over where to house the fund “distracted from the actual task at hand” and ensuring a fund “that would provide effective remedy for communities suffering harms from the climate crisis,” said Lien Vandamme, a senior campaigner for the Center for Environmental Law.

China and Saudi Arabia had also been loathe to pay into such a fund, contending they were still developing and that countries responsible for the bulk of historical emissions should finance the initiative.

Avinash Persaud, the climate envoy to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, said the island nation has reservations about the agreement he said posed “mutual discomfort“ and was a “difficult and challenging outcome.“ But he stressed it nevertheless represents “a positive step forward.“

“Failure would definitely have cast a long shadow over COP,“ Persaud said in a phone interview.

The US successfully pushed for language making clear the fund can receive money from a wide variety of sources — keeping the door open to revenue from carbon pricing mechanisms and philanthropic donations — after arguing no single government has enough resources to deliver what’s needed. But the US lost its bid for language that would have made clear contributions are purely voluntary.

The text doesn’t reflect consensus concerning the need for clarity on the voluntary nature of contributions, a US State Department official said.

The fund is one of the most politically divisive issues facing the COP28 summit, and countries may adopt the framework or push to reopen the text for further changes. Developing nations were initially opposed to the World Bank hosting the facility amid a lack of confidence that the institution had shifted sufficiently to spur climate action.

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