London-based law firm Michelmores LLP has surveyed affluent millennials in the United Kingdom and discovered that 20% have invested in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
The survey, reported by FXStreet on Sept. 17, revealed that among those born between 1981 and 1996 with investable assets of £25,000 ($31,000) or more, 20% had invested in the new asset class.
Almost 7 times the national average
As FXStreet notes, this 20% figure is markedly higher than the national average of 3% — indicating that well-off millennials in the U.K. are almost 7 times more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies than the general public.
Moreover, when it comes to millennials with over £75,000 ($93,000) worth of investable assets, the percentage of cryptocurrency investors jumps to 29%.
Notably, 70% of respondents indicated that their investable wealth derived from salary and wages, while 40% said it was through investment returns.
This interest in investment opportunities translates into a high level of fluency with online trading infrastructure: 35% of respondents said they invest using electronic trading platforms, while 27% said they consulted social trading platforms and browsed or participated in trader e-communities.
Generational divides
Michelmores’ survey bolsters research conducted earlier this year on the other side of the pond. The results of a United States-wide Bankrate survey this July indicated that cryptocurrencies are three times more popular among American millennials as a top-choice, long-term investment option than for Generation X.
Also in July, 26% of Generation Z in the U.S. — generally defined as those born after 1997 — said they would be somewhat, very or extremely likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next 6 months.
In April, an industry survey revealed that 11% of the American population owns Bitcoin, identifying Bitcoin ownership is a “demographic mega-trend” led by the younger generation in the 18-34 year age range. Nonetheless, 89% of U.S. citizens had heard of the cryptocurrency, regardless of their generation.
Drake’s Top Boy revival finally hit Netflix this past Friday after months of anticipation. Originally airing between 2011 to 2013 via Channel 4, before being abruptly cancelled, the revamped British hood series sees OG cast members Kano and Ashley Walters reuniting to reprise their roles as Sully and Dushane, while UK hip-hop greats Little Simz and Dave join as series newcomers.
During the show’s heyday, Top Boy was able to resonate with viewers across the country for its honest portrayal of street gangs and drug dealing set in and around the fictional Summerhouse housing estate in Hackney, East London. The show has since gone on to gain a cult following, including the likes of Drake who is tasked as the show’s executive producer.
As most of you have inevitably finished watching all 10 Top Boy episodes over the weekend, the season may have felt like it was over before it even began. If your thirst for UK entertainment isn’t fully quenched yet, below are 15 of the best movies and films to stream on Netflix after finishing Top Boy.
Additionally, all three seasons of Top Boy are also currently available on the streaming giant.
Movies
Bullet Boy
Why you should watch: Before he was in Toy Boy, a young Ashley Walters starred in this award-winning and controversial film about urban Britain. The film features a similar storyline that parallels Walters’ own life, which included being imprisoned for 18 months in a young offenders’ institute in 2001 after he was discovered to be in possession of a firearm. Just like Walters, his film’s counterpart has been recently released from jail and tries to keep out of a life of crime. During filming, Walters needed his own security due to the rising tension between East and South London, so you know the emotions in the film are real. Also available to stream on YouTube.
Attack The Block
Why you should watch: Known as the film that introduced Star Wars‘ John Boyega to the world, Attack the Block is a more comedic take on UK’s hood films. Not only is the film a playful take on the genre, it also adds a surprising sci-fi twist seeing as a gang of estate kids ban together to fight off the aliens that are attacking their council estate. Written and directed by cult comedian and South London native Joe Cornish, the small budget film also stars buddies Nick Frost and Simon Pegg.
Calibre
Why you should watch: Centering around two old friends that decide to embark on a hunting weekend in the Scottish highlands, this British horror film soon manages to transverse genres from folk horror to crime drama to psychological thriller. While the storyline of two out-of-towners stirring up the locals sounds like a familiar formula in this day and age, Calibre is able to explore it in a fresh way.
Layer Cake
Why you should watch: Before Daniel Craig took on the mantle of James Bond he starred as a mid-level cocaine dealer in Layer Cake. As Craig’s character in the film decides to leave the life of crime behind him, he must finish a set of complicated jobs set out by his supplier before he can do so. Often compared to the cult-classics Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels as well as Scarface, this darkly humorous and violent film is a must see drug-related film.
The Girl With All the Gifts
Why you should watch: The zombie genre is one that has seen numerous iterations, ranging from horror to comedy. One film that manages to go beyond and give the subject matter a more thought-provoking spin is The Girl With All the Gifts. Along with an all-star cast that includes Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine, the Colm McCarthy-directed zombie flick also boasts a fantastic soundtrack that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
TV Shows
Residue
Why you should watch: The British sci-fi series has been described as Black Mirror with a Game of Thrones cast. Although it’s not very hood-heavy, the Channel 4 turned Netflix offering follows a photojournalist who uncovers a web of conspiracy after a mysterious explosion sets off in a dystopian city. Residue will have you hooked from the very first moment.
Utopia
Why you should watch: For something a bit darker, Utopia is another Channel 4 gem that sees five strangers banning together against the mysterious Network and its sinister plans to curb world population. Filled with heralded cinematography and storytelling, Utopia made shockwaves when it debuted in 2013 for its nightmarish brutality. Additionally David Fincher and Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn were planning an American remake of the show, however it has since been cancelled.
Dead Set
Why you should watch: Just like Black Mirror, Dead Set is another one of Charlie Brooker’s satirical commentaries, this time around showcasing his take on the Big Brother house. Inspired by the classic horror Dawn of the Dead, the show chronicles a zombie takeover of Britain, while the cast and crew of Big Brother have no idea of what is happening in the outside world. This is quite possibly Brooker’s greatest work to date.
Peaky Blinders
Why you should watch:Cillian Murphy stars as Tommy Shelby, the head of Peaky Blinders and his family clan. Set in 1920s Birmingham during a post-WWII England, the series is an exiting crime drama that may even outdo HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Hollywood A-lister Tom Hardy also stars as Alfie Solomons.
The Last Kingdom
Why you should watch: Based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom is one of the lesser talked about epics out there today. Set in late 9th-century England before the country was unified, an Anglo-Saxon who was kidnapped as a boy then raised as a Viking must walk a fine line if he wants to regain the land that was stolen from him. The Last Kingdom has drawn comparisons to both Amazon Prime’s Vikings and HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Bodyguard
Why you should watch:Bodyguard may have aired on the small screen last year on BBC. However after getting picked up by Netflix, the sleeper hit starring Richard Madden really took off. Each episode plays out like a full-length film, giving viewers plenty of action and suspense. You’ll wish there were more than six episodes to binge watch.
The End of the F***ing World
Why you should watch: Another British sleeper hit makes its way onto the list. Having crept under the radar when it first aired on Channel 4 in early 2017, The End of the F***ing World, based off the comic books by Charles Forsman, has really taken flight since streaming on Netflix. Unlike Top Boy’s edge of your seat storyline, this series centers on an off-kilter relationship between two 17-year-old outsiders. The End of the F***ing World stars Alex Lawther, who many remember from Black Mirror’s “Shut Up and Dance” episode. On top of that, the series boasts a stellar soundtrack.
Luther
Why you should watch:Idris Elba stars as an emotionally impulsive London detective that hunts down the city’s killers. Filled with murders fit for a horror film, each episode sees Elba playing cat and mouse with his prey. Originally airing on BBC One, Luther is now available to watch on Netflix and also stars Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey fame.
Chewing Gum
Why you should watch: Known for her roles in Black Earth Rising and Black Mirror’s “USS Callister” episode, actress Michaela Coel has her award-winning comedy Chewing Gum to thank for her shot to fame. Having garnered a lot of fans – and BAFAT awards — for its ludicrous jokes and being able to tackle race in an unconventional way during its original airing on E4, Chewing Gum is definitely one of Netflix’s hidden gems.
The IT Crowd
Why you should watch: The IT Crowd is a ridiculous yet relatable look at a neglected team of I.T. staff that have been relocated to the basement of their London office. The show is “inherently British,” and is filled with irony, sarcasm and dry humor, in addition to poking fun at geeks. Although the American audience may not get these British jokes, they can, however, learn to enjoy them. Written by Irish comedian, Graham Linehan, the show also pokes fun at corporate life and stars Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson.
Honorable Mentions
KiDULTHOOD
Why you should watch:KiDULTHOOD is considered to be London’s answer to Larry Clark’s Kids and Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine, which take place in New York and Paris, respectively. And just like the two aforementioned films, KiDULTHOOD centers around a group of city kids who rome around town getting into trouble, sleep around, and do drugs. Instead of spotlighting the usual East or South London areas, screenwriter Noel Clarke penned the storyline based on his own life growing up around Ladbroke Grove. All this is then set to a marvelous soundtrack that features Dizzee Rascal, The Streets and more. Nicholas Hoult of Skins and X-Men fame also appears in the film.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson drew comparisons between himself and a comic book hero in a recent interview in which he vowed to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union at the end of October, as planned.
“The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets,” Johnson said in an interview with local media, according to Reuters. “Hulk always escaped, no matter how tightly bound in he seemed to be - and that is the case for this country. We will come out on October 31."
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“Banner might be bound in manacles, but when provoked he would explode out of them,” Johnson went on, referring to Bruce Banner, the character who transforms into the Hulk.
In the interview, Johnson reportedly also said he was “very confident” about his planned meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker next week.
“There’s a very, very good conversation going on about how to address the issues of the Northern Irish border. A huge amount of progress is being made,” Johnson said.
His comments come as his efforts to take U.K. out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31 continue to face opposition from lawmakers in Parliament, including members of his own party.
Johnson moved to suspend Parliament amid negotiations over his Brexit plan, and effort that is being challenged in court.
He also moved to request a snap election in recent weeks as a response to a bill passed by British lawmakers that sought to block his efforts take U.K. out of the European Union without a deal, but his push was defeated in the House of Commons earlier this month.
The terrifying experience of getting sick on a visit to America reminded me why Brits cherish our National Health Service. The NHS doesn’t just make the United Kingdom healthier — it creates a spirit of equality that changes people's entire mentality about health care.
A surgeon and his team perform surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on March 16, 2010 in Birmingham, England.
(Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
Babies are often expensive for creatures that are so small: they need new clothes, bedding, toys once they’re a little more agile, and the time you spend caring for them isn’t spent working, so your bank balance is run down for every day you aren’t in the office.
By posting a photograph of the bill she received after the birth of her second child, Washington Post columnist Elizabeth Bruenig also underscored that in the United States, the care you and your child receive during the delivery also costs money; even though Bruenig is insured, the hospital billed her nearly $8,000. The responses were mixed: many people understandably found the idea of billing people for bringing new life into being abhorrent, but others were defensive — child-rearing was a choice, their argument went, and having children was bound to cost money, so no one should complain that some companies were profiting from the creation of future generations.
Travelling to the United States several years ago, I spent more than twice as much time searching for insurance than booking flights, accommodation, and planning a sightseeing itinerary combined. My friends sorted their insurance quickly and cheaply but finding a company who would insure me for less than the cost of the return flight was a challenge. Since insurance is essentially gambling with risk, the vast majority of companies were unwilling to take a chance on a traveller with a rare genetic condition that causes multiple tumors to grow in my spinal cord and severe, poorly controlled epilepsy. Finally, I found a reasonable quote, but spent a huge amount of time in fear of seizing in public and being rushed to hospital, racking up an enormous bill.
Mercifully, I was seizure free for a week in New York, but came down with a brutal chest infection, coughing like a medieval peasant with tuberculosis, and raided CVS for anything that might help so as to avoid having to seek medical help. The cough left me unable to sleep for longer than a couple of hours a night and made enemies of the people around me on the flight back. The pain, fever, and shortness of breath made the tail end of my holiday miserable, but the fear of an expensive medical bill affected me far more. On returning to London, I secured an appointment with the National Health Service (NHS) quickly, was diagnosed with pneumonia, and sent home with a free prescription. I didn’t pay a penny for anything.
After a recent seizure left me unconscious for several minutes, I was kept in hospital for a little over a week. I had my own room in a facility directly over the river from the House of Parliament. Doctors performed multiple tests, including full body MRIs, CT scans, tests that tracked the electrical activity of my heart and brain, and staff gave me three meals a day, many cups of coffee, and medication at regular intervals. Free Wi-Fi throughout the hospital meant that when I felt able to, I could work on my laptop and explore the hospital grounds with friends. As we sat in the well-manicured gardens outside one of the hospital cafes, an American friend marveled that the place was “like a mini-city.”
It’s often, correctly, observed that to people in the United Kingdom the National Health Service is akin to a religion. Since its creation after World War II, the mere suggestion, by any party, of a shift away from free health care provokes horror in the electorate. To British people, the US model of health care appears like a hellscape: the easiest way to go viral in the United Kingdom is to post a scan of a US hospital bill and be met with horror by British people from across the political spectrum. Bruenig’s delivery may be at the lower end of that scale, but the outlook of those Americans tweeting about how health care shouldn’t be free is as alien to UK Conservatives as they are to the Left.
The NHS has changed the psychology of an entire nation, across multiple generations: we know that no matter what happens we will receive care and pay little, if anything, for it. Nowadays there are some costs: prescriptions are charged at a flat rate of £9 per person, but a large number of people are exempt — children, pregnant people, pensioners, low earners, and people like me, with certain health conditions that require daily medication, such as epilepsy, diabetes, thyroid issues, and cancer. Shortly after the introduction of the NHS, the government opted to impose charges for spectacles, wigs, and dentures, a highly controversial move that provoked the resignation of health minister Aneurin Bevan, the father of the NHS system. It was an unpopular choice but one that has stuck. (Again, there are certain exemptions similar to those listed above, and my eyesight is so poor, I am given free eye tests, and money off the cost of my lenses.)
Even those in Britain who pay to access private health care, either through work or through their personal wealth, use the NHS: their doctors are trained in the NHS, and specialist care is often available only through the NHS for rare and complex diseases. If you need to visit the emergency room, you’ll be taken to an NHS hospital. People might complain about certain aspects of the NHS, such as waiting times, or personal treatment when they disagree with a doctor, but these are minor gripes, and few would claim that charging people would improve matters. Most problems with the NHS are caused by underfunding at the hands of governments that will happily finance wars while cutting funding for nurses. The United Kingdom spends only about $4,000 per capita on health — the lowest of any G7 country save Italy — compared to more than $10,000 in the United States.
But it utterly changes lives: knowing that if you are diagnosed with cancer, you’ll be treated quickly and not pay a penny, that having a baby or being in a car crash won’t land you with a bill has the effect of making the United States feel even more foreign than it is. Being kept alive shouldn’t be treated like ordering a meal in a restaurant, with cash flow being a barrier: if anyone gets cancer, rich or poor, they should be able to access chemotherapy and have doctors and nurses fight to keep them alive. A baby’s birth shouldn’t be heralded by an invoice, and no one should be asked about their earnings after a car crash, instead of about their medical history.
Free health care for all, paid for through taxation, would improve the health of the nation, but it will also change the psychology of the United States forever, ingraining some small dose of equality in the way lives are valued. Under Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All, all babies will be born ever so slightly more equal, and people will be able to focus on their child’s life rather than the bill for it.
Pro-EU Remainers and Brexiteers protest their ideals outside the House of Commons, on 4th December 2018, in London, England.
Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images
The most likely outcome of Brexit is that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union within weeks with no agreement in place on its future relationship, according to a new CNBC survey of chief financial officers (CFOs).
Britain and Northern Ireland is set to leave the superstate trading bloc on October 31. It is the third deadline for the U.K.'s departure after previous extensions were granted in order to resolve how Britain would withdraw and conduct future trading with EU members.
Fears of no deal have been compounded by a new U.K. government which has reportedly ramped up planning for an abrupt exit while also reducing negotiations with the EU.
According to the latest CNBC Global CFO Council quarterly survey, published Friday, 43.5% of chief financial officers now view no deal as the most likely scenario. Almost a third (32.3%) predict a deadline extension, 8.1% expect a deal can be struck by the end of October, 3.2% foresee a second referendum while the remainder (12.9%) are not sure.
What do you think is most likely to happen regarding Brexit?
The strengthening no deal view marks a sharp rise from the second quarter survey which had almost no respondents predicting no deal with most of the opinion that a further deadline extension would happen.
Of the respondents in the EMEA region, 52.6% forecast no deal with APAC respondents at exactly 50%. American CFOs stood apart with a majority continuing to predict an extension of talks and only 30% betting on no deal at the end of October.
The CNBC Global CFO Council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world, collectively managing nearly $5 trillion in market value.
To other questions asked, the majority of respondents said the U.S. Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates just twice during the whole of 2019. In the previous two quarters, almost no cuts were expected by almost all CFOs quizzed.
On the question of stocks, nearly 50% expect the Dow Jones industrial average will fall below 23,000 points, in comparison to just over 20% who see it rising above 28,000 first. The remainder are unsure.
The council's global economic outlook remains finely balanced, with only three of 11 countries or regions — the U.K., the euro zone and China — seen as "declining." All other regions were described as "stable"
(Note: Sixty-two of the 129 current members of the CNBC Global CFO Council responded to this quarter's survey, including 23 North American-based members, 19 EMEA-based members and 20 APAC-based members. The survey was conducted from Aug. 21–Sep. 3, 2019.)
Ireland's finance minister warned that the country's government remains "highly skeptical" about proposals advocated by Britain's prime minister to avoid the need for infrastructure on the U.K.'s border with Ireland after Brexit.
U.K. premier Boris Johnson had visited Dublin Monday for talks with his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, and insisted that trusted trader schemes and electronic pre-clearances of goods were areas in which there was "a lot that can be done" to resolve a problem that bedevilled his predecessor Theresa May: how to reconcile an open border between the Republic of Ireland and the U.K., while allowing Britain to strike independent trade deals in the future.
But Varadkar's finance minister Paschal Donohoe, speaking to CNBC at Ireland's U.K. embassy after a day of investor meetings in the City of London, argued that the British leader's suggestions do not respond to the "unique needs of the Irish border," and that was why the Irish government has "stood so firmly behind the principle of regulatory alignment, and the backstop."
The so-called "Irish backstop" forms an element of Theresa May's negotiated exit deal with Brussels, and is designed to protect the continued openness of the border between the Republic of Ireland in the south and the separate nation, Northern Ireland, that forms part of the United Kingdom, in case further talks between the U.K. and EU do not find a long-term, operable resolution to the issue.
The open border and freedom of movement between the two countries were key tenets of a 1998 peace deal that heralded the end of ongoing violence in the region.
The backstop
But the European Union's rules that are designed to protect the integrity of its single market do not allow for goods, services or people to travel frictionlessly into its territory outside the framework of a trade agreement. The regulatory requirements contained in those kinds of agreements can make it difficult for a third country like the U.K., under such a regime, to operate the kind of fully independent trade policy that the current British leader considers a crucial benefit to be derived from Brexit.
To make that possible, the U.K. would typically need goods to be checked at Britain's frontier with Europe. But Johnson in Dublin insisted this was not an acceptable consequence.
"The U.K. will never, ever institute checks at the border, and I hope our friends in the EU would say the same," Johnson told Varadkar.
But the British leader has said previously he is confident about his ability to win from EU leaders certain concessions that might avoid the need for the contentious insurance policy altogether. He has vowed the U.K. will then be able to discard — or "bin" — the backstop, which was a major reason many lawmakers in his Conservative Party previously refused to endorse May's deal in three separate parliamentary votes.
Johnson voted against the deal twice before voting for it on the third occasion.
The current prime minister's critics say his government has failed to provide specific alternatives to the Irish backstop in the weeks since he took office. And speaking outside the Irish leader's residence Farmleigh House on Monday morning, Johnson continued to be coy about the particulars.
"There are an abundance of proposals that we have, but I don't think it's entirely reasonable to share them with you today," he told assembled journalists.
In response Donohoe, during his interview with CNBC, backed Varadkar's earlier stated position that Ireland was not prepared to "replace a legal guarantee with a promise."
The finance chief said the Irish would listen to new proposals, but these kinds of alternative arrangements had been previously examined and found wanting.
"If anyone does believe that there are ideas that could take the place of the backstop then of course we are open to engaging with those ideas."
Donohoe reiterated an oft-stated Irish government view that if proponents of the "alternative arrangements" Johnson mentioned Monday were so confident in their operability, then they should first ratify the backstop and the withdrawal agreement, then push for them during that transition period, rather than risk the entire agreement by insisting on them now.
Theresa May's withdrawal agreement negotiated with the EU had included a lengthy transition period during which the U.K. would continue to operate under EU rules. The intention of negotiators on both sides was for that period to offer businesses some continuity and to provide the U.K. and Irish governments more time to find workable solutions to the border challenges.
British politicians in favor of a swift Brexit dislike the idea that the U.K. will have to abide by EU rules after Brexit, and could be forced to rely too heavily on European goodwill to allow the introduction of new arrangements that would automatically render the backstop unnecessary.
But internal government documents leaked to the website Politico earlier this month and written by U.K. technical advisory groups tasked with examining "alternative arrangements" to the Irish backstop found that "trusted trader schemes" — whereby firms get pre-approval to move goods back and forth across the border without checks — had proven to be a "popular facilitation" among surveyed businesses, but would likely still require some form of border infrastructure in order to work.
The same government technical advisors acknowledged there were various options that might address individual challenges stemming from the border's necessarily open status, but that "every facilitation has concerns and issues" and that the "complexity of combining them into something more systemic and as part of one package is a key missing factor at present."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) outside 10 Downing Street ahead of bilateral talks on 05 September 2019 in London, England.
WIktor Szymanowicz | NurPhoto | Getty Images
One solution that Irish and European government officials posited in the past would have required Northern Ireland to submit to a different regulatory environment to the rest of the U.K.; a backstop specific to Northern Ireland alone. But Theresa May's government had categorically refused to allow this because of its implications for U.K. unity, and had negotiated hard to make the backstop applicable to the entire U.K. in the face of fierce EU opposition.
May had relied on votes from a small Northern Irish political party, the Democratic Unionists, to maintain a parliamentary majority after she lost ground in a 2017 election. But Johnson no longer enjoys that majority, and lost six out of six parliamentary votes in the past week before the legislature was suspended for five weeks on Monday night.
Some senior government ministers have hinted publicly that a backstop that only applies to Northern Ireland may now be the best option left open to Downing Street, if Johnson is to fulfil his promise of leaving the world's largest trading bloc by Oct. 31.
