Share Sounds

Panmure Gordon shares spiked 64% following news of former Barclays chief Bob Diamond's bid, a joint venture with a Qatari firm, QInvest. Plus housebuilder Berkeley Group sees shares rise on good results and Tullow Oil prepares a £600 million rights issue. Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA, joined Share Radio's Ed Bowsher to talk all of the day's company news.

Georgie Frost was joined by Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief at Money.co.uk. They talked about new lows for mortgage rates, bad news for single millenials looking to get on the property ladder and the pitfalls of being part of the so-called gig economy.

To go through all the political headlines this morning with Georgie Frost was Ryan Heath, Senior EU Correspondent at POLITICO. They started by discussing Theresa May's attempt to reach out to Scots during a conference speech later. She'll promise the 'voices and interests' of all four UK nations will be represented during negotiations to leave the EU. She's addressing Tory activists just a day after rejecting calls for a second independence referendum before Brexit is wrapped up.

Despite some signs of a slowdown, UK house prices have hit their most unaffordable levels ever, according to the Office for National Statistics. But is this a good sign for the economy? Plus the gig economy, should the government step in? For this and more economic news, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher spoke to Michael Bell, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Nicola Sturgeon's plan for a second Scottish independence referendum for 2018 was rejected by Theresa May who said "now is not the time". To find out whether the Scottish will vote for independence, Share Radio's Alexi Phillips spoke with Professor John Curtice from the University of Strathclyde.

GCHQ has strongly dismissed claims from the Trump administration that President Obama used British spies to "wiretap" Donald Trump during the last election. Scott Lucas, Professor of American studies at the University of Birmingham and Founder of the EA Worldview blog joined us to discuss.

Former Chancellor George Osborne has just been appointed as the new Editor of the Evening Standard. Osborne is expected to take up his role in May while still remaining the MP for Tatton. Plus, Nicola Sturgeon said May's rejection of a second Scottish referendum is 'completely outrageous and unacceptable'. Asa Bennett, Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph, joined us to discuss the latest political news.

George Osborne has been appointed as Editor of the London Evening Standard - and says he plans to retain his seat in Tatton. But will he be able to do the job with little journalistic experience? Ian Murray, ex-president of the Society of Editors and former Editor in Chief of the Southern Daily Echo, gave us his take.

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Share Radio's very own Nigel Cassidy, starting with the possible takeover of Panmure Gordon, one of the City's oldest stockbrokers, by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond. Plus, how housebuilder the Berkeley Group hit its profit target despite Brexit fears.

Culture secretary Karen Bradley's referred the Fox/ Sky bid to Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority. 21st Century Fox is offering £11.7bn for the 61% stake in Sky it does not already own. The company said it was "confident" the takeover would be approved. Critics of the merger fear it will mean Rupert Murdoch has too much control of the UK media. So can the takeover succeed after failing in 2011? James Brydges recaps the issues the regulators will be looking into.