Covid-19

Coronavirus is bringing health threats to life and disruption to business and society on an unprecedented scale. Events are moving quickly and the timeline for the pandemic remains uncertain. With a team drawn from the worlds of public policy and business, Global Counsel have moved swiftly to support clients as they navigate this turbulent environment, what it means for their people, supply chains, and businesses processes. As governments develop their economic response to the pandemic, we are analysing policy developments around the globe and helping clients understand and influence them.

If you would like to learn more about our approach and how we are helping companies and investors respond to the challenges which the pandemic is posing please contact us here.

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Southeast Asia in 2021: crucial challenges for the region’s vaccination rollouts

General Policy

Brigitta Kinadi
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As with much of the rest of the world, countries in Southeast Asia are scrambling to roll out covid-19 vaccines. While the region has weathered the pandemic better than others and has managed to keep fatalities relatively low, the economic impact of the covid-19 outbreak has been severe. It has been the largest growth shock for Southeast Asia since the Asian Financial…

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The UK Supreme Court has issued its ruling on Uber – what next?

TMT

Max von Thun
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On Friday, the UK Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling on the employment status of Uber drivers. It concluded that Uber drivers are “workers”, a form of intermediary status in UK employment law which provides individuals with some, but not all the rights enjoyed by permanent employees, including minimum wage and paid holiday. The ruling was the latest and last in…

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Rolling out the covid-19 vaccine in emerging markets

General Policy

Thomas Gratowski
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Global Macro Practice Lead Thomas Gratowski, and Senior Associates Isabelle Trick and Brigitta Kinadi examine how Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are approaching covid-19 vaccines and look at how well different emerging markets are positioned to achieve vaccine targets. They also explore how countries have handled the transmission of cases and and when we might be able to…

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The Politics of Life After Covid

General Policy

Stephen Adams
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Over the last few years, Global Counsel has convened a policy conference each January to look at the year ahead, taking a big theme and unpacking it. This year’s event was held fully online and focused on the politics of life after covid-19.

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Maintaining innovation: clinical trials post-covid

General Policy

Olympia Campbell
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Earlier this month, GC hosted a debate on the success and future of clinical trials in the UK. The UK’s profile as a global leader in life sciences has been enhanced by the covid-19 pandemic. Industry, the NHS and regulators collaborated effectively to be at the forefront of innovation in vaccines and treatments. The RECOVERY trial and its identification of dexamethasone…

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Covid-19 and the future of food systems

Sustainability

Mollie Brennan
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Policy addressing health, climate, and poverty has often occurred in silos. Covid-19 has emphasised the interconnected nature of each of these areas, and particularly in how they relate to food systems. Global Counsel Chairman, Peter Mandelson recently discussed these issues with Special Envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organization, David Nabarro, where they looked…

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Southeast Asia in 2021: three economic themes to watch

General Policy

Jens Presthus
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There is no country in Southeast Asia that has escaped the impact of covid-19 unscathed, although the intensity of the pandemic’s disruption and individual countries’ abilities to adapt have varied significantly. Early government intervention to restrict international travel and the implementation of strict lockdown measures meant that in terms of covid-19 cases,…

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Reconciliation alone won’t revive the GCC’s economic project

General Policy

Thomas Gratowski
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Saudi Arabia and Qatar agreed to settle their dispute at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in al-Ula earlier this month. Despite uncertainty until the last minute, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE followed the Saudi lead and grudgingly restored land, sea and air transport links with Qatar. Riyadh’s willingness – and in the end eagerness – to end the crisis was prompted…

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Budget reconciliation puts Biden agenda in play despite tight Congress

General Policy

Miranda Lutz
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The Democrats’ historic win in the Georgia Senate races on January 5th was largely overshadowed by the violent storming of the US Capitol the next day. While the implications of that attack will continue to reverberate throughout American politics, it is worth zeroing in on how Georgia Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock’s and Jon Ossoff’s wins impact President-elect…

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General Politics

Reviewing Germany’s EU presidency with Olaf Scholz

General Politics

Peter Mandelson
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On a recent Global Counsel digital event, Lord Mandelson and German Vice Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, discussed the work of the German presidency, the EU’s strategic autonomy and German politics. 

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What we can learn from the rush to repay the business rates relief

General Policy

Felix Cazalet
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Last week, the UK supermarket chain Tesco decided to repay £585m of business rates relief received in the covid-19 pandemic. Other major UK supermarkets and retailers rapidly followed. By Friday, they had vowed to return a total of £1.8 bn. Tesco’s chairman John Allan argued that “giving this money back to the public is absolutely the right thing to do” and was widely…

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The future of physical retail

General Policy

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser
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As the national lockdown ends and the UK government promises a substantial return to normality by Easter, the big question for retail is what “normal” even looks like. On a recent event, Global Counsel convened a panel of experts including Emma Bridgewater, founder of her eponymous ceramics firm, Archie Norman, chairman of M&S, Laura Citron, CEO of London &…

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Prospects for UK recovery: vaccines versus the second wave

General Policy

Gregor Irwin
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Gregor Irwin, Chief Economist, examines the prospects for the UK recovery from covid-19 in the wake of the rollout of vaccines, looking at the immediate prospects for recovery, longer term issues, and implications for asset prices and financial markets.

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General Politics

Brussels woos Biden

General Politics

Stephen Adams
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Stephen Adams, Senior Director, Tom White, Director, and Miranda Lutz, Senior Associate, discuss the tensions in the EU's published strategy for rapprochement with the incoming Biden administration, what it means for businesses and why there is more than a little sense of catharsis in Brussels' response to the new administration.

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The pitfalls of vaccine salvation

General Policy

Tom Smith
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As clinical trials for covid-19 vaccines begin to produce sufficient evidence to begin the regulatory approval process and scale-up manufacture, governments, especially in the UK, face a whole range of new challenges. Many will resemble those of the earlier phases of the pandemic and will be shaped by the experience of managing the first peak and the subsequent attempts…

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The case for WHO reform

General Policy

Beatrix Thompson
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The World Health Organisation has not performed well in response to the covid-19 crisis. In a video-conference discussion of EU health ministers on October 30th, it was unanimously agreed that the WHO was not fit for purpose and required an overhaul to boost transparency and accountability. With the WHO’s largest contributor, the USA,…

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Transatlantic reprieve? Implications of a Biden presidency for EU-US trade

Trade & Manufacturing

Alessandro Gangarossa
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This week’s decision by the EU to hold off on retaliatory tariffs against US subsidies to the aircraft manufacturer Boeing is a sign of Brussels’ interest in working towards resetting transatlantic relations after the US elections. The possibility of a new president in the White House potentially means reduced trade tensions with the EU. But those thinking that this reset…

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Permanent change in the concrete jungle

General Policy

Tom King
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New York City occupies a space like no other in the modern Western mind. Its liminal status, halfway between imagination and reality, has been entrenched through decades of cultural saturation. Coming to the city for the first time, you feel you have already been there; its sights and sounds are already familiar, a composite of scenes from half-remembered TV shows and…

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