Germany axes plan to speak about Brexit at high-level EU summit August 27, 2020 Germany has scrapped plans to discuss post-Brexit trade deal negotiations at an upcoming EU ambassadors summit as there has not been enough progress. Brexit was due to be a major point of discussion at the 2 September summit, however EU officials are reportedly increasingly pessimistic that the UK will leave on a no-deal basis on [...]
Sir Ed Davey elected as leader of the Liberal Democrats August 27, 2020 Sir Ed Davey is the new leader of the Liberal Democrats after defeating challenger Layla Moran in the party’s leadership contest. Davey, who was the bookies’ favourite, beat Moran by 42,756 votes to 24,564 in what was the highest ever turn out for a Liberal Democrat leadership contest. Davey conceded in his victory speech that [...]
Unrest grows among Tory MPs over series of Boris Johnson U-turns August 27, 2020 Senior members of Boris Johnson’s government are reportedly disgruntled about the growing number of policy U-turns coming from Downing Street. Yesterday’s U-turn on face masks in schools marked the 12th policy about face the government has made since the start of the coronavirus crisis in March. Twelve senior Conservatives told the Financial Times about growing [...]
Coronavirus: Government to pay low income workers in self-isolation August 27, 2020 People on low incomes who are forced to self-isolate due to coronavirus will receive payments from the government as part of a new scheme. From Tuesday people who claim universal credit or working tax credit and cannot work from home will be entitled to up to £182 — equivalent to £13 per day. The scheme [...]
Voting by pencil and paper is still the best way to keep elections secure and democracy safe August 26, 2020 Yesterday for City A.M., Christopher Flinos, co-founder of HAYVN, an online OTC and custody trading platform for cryptocurrencies, penned an article proposing that blockchain technology could be used to implement an electronic voting system for future UK elections. As the government minister responsible for our elections, I agree with anyone who advocates the importance of [...]
Top Department for Education civil servant to leave position August 26, 2020 The Department for Education’s top civil servant will leave his post in the wake of the A-level results fiasco and U-turn over wearing face masks in schools. Boris Johnson and education secretary Gavin Williamson have both tried to pass the blame for the disastrous release of A-level results in recent days. Williamson blamed Ofqual for [...]
UK quarantine list: Which European countries have the worst infection rates? August 26, 2020 Switzerland looks set to be added to the list of countries on the UK’s quarantine list after a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the country. Scotland has already reimposed self-isolation measures on travellers from the country, with ministers in England due to review its list today. If it is added to the [...]
Boris Johnson calls for a ‘transparent investigation’ into Alexei Navalny poisoning August 26, 2020 Boris Johnson has called for a “transparent” investigation into the poisoning of Russian political activist and Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny. The Prime Minister said the UK “stands in solidarity” with Navalny and that the country would “join international efforts to ensure justice is done”. Navalny, who is one of the Russian government’s most prominent [...]
Exclusive: UK-Japan trade deal in doubt for Monday’s deadline August 25, 2020 Doubts are growing in Whitehall that a UK-Japan trade deal will be completed by next week’s deadline, despite Downing Street saying just yesterday the target would be met. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told journalists yesterday that Boris Johnson expected the deal to be closed by next Monday’s deadline. However, City A.M. understands that Department [...]
UK-Japan trade deal to be completed by next week August 24, 2020 The UK is expecting to have a free trade deal with Japan wrapped up by next week, after just under three months of negotiations. A Downing Street official today told journalists that the government expects to complete the deal before September, meaning by next Monday at the latest. The completion of a deal would be [...]