Exclusive: MPs ask banks for clarity on state aid rules and coronavirus loans July 22, 2020 A group of MPs and Lords has written to lenders to try to ensure they take into account changes to EU state aid rules that could boost the UK’s coronavirus loan scheme, amid confusion about the alterations. It came as business group UK Hospitality urged the government to take the lead and make sure the [...]
Labour calls for review of Russia Today’s UK TV licence July 22, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for state-backed broadcaster Russia Today (RT) to have its TV licence reviewed on the back of fresh warnings about Kremlin interference in the UK. Starmer called on Boris Johnson at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to “stop the spread of Kremlin-backed disinformation”, adding that the UK’s High Court [...]
Robert Jenrick says decision to save developer £40m was ‘perfectly fair’ July 22, 2020 Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has defended his controversial decision to approve a 1500-home housing development a day before taxes would have cost the developer £40m as “perfectly fair”. The housing secretary has come under fire for alleged links with the developer, and Tory donor, Richard Desmond, with Labour calling the saga an example of “cash [...]
UK and US close diplomatic immunity loophole used in Harry Dunn case July 22, 2020 UK and US officials have struck a deal to amend the “anomaly” that allowed Harry Dunn’s alleged killer Anne Sacoolas to claim diplomatic immunity following his death in a road collision last year, the foreign secretary has said. Dominic Raab this morning said changes had been made that would “see justice done” if another family [...]
Tiktok could be sold to US investors to avoid American ban July 22, 2020 Beleaguered video app Tiktok could be split from its Chinese parent company Bytedance and sold off to US investors in a bid to curtail a mooted ban on the app in America, as questions over the company’s data protection policies face mounting criticism on both sides of the Atlantic. Tiktok’s $110bn (£86bn) parent firm Bytedance [...]
Grant Shapps says there is ‘no evidence’ of Russian Brexit interference July 22, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said there is no evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit vote and therefore the UK secret services did not need to investigate the allegations. Shapps’s statement came the day after lawmakers finally released the delayed Russia report. It said the government failed to investigate possible Russian interference in [...]
Trump offers message of support to Ghislaine Maxwell July 22, 2020 President Donald Trump has said that he wished alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell well, noting that he had met her multiple times in the past, but he had little else to say on the case involving the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Trump, speaking at his first coronavirus briefing in weeks yesterday, was asked if he [...]
Career versus motherhood: When workplaces don’t support women, the result is a fertility crisis July 22, 2020 You’d think that a global crash in fertility rates, which will see the world’s population fall dramatically by the end of the century, might be music to the ears of any sustainability professional. Lower populations, after all, equal lower environmental impacts. Yet dig a bit deeper into the research published last week by University of [...]
Why you should read the small print on alarmist Covid-19 death projections July 22, 2020 Another day, another lurid, headline-grabbing number of deaths to expect from Covid-19. This time, it was a study from the Academy of Medical Sciences. A second wave, we were warned, could kill 120,000 this winter in hospitals alone. To be fair, this study was a projection rather than a forecast. A forecast is what is [...]
US accuses Chinese nationals of hacking spree for Covid-19 trade secrets July 21, 2020 US prosecutors today said the Justice Department had indicted two Chinese nationals for hacking defence contractors, coronavirus researchers and hundreds of others globally. US authorities said Chinese nationals Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi were part of “one of the most prolific groups of hackers” the FBI has ever investigated. Officials alleged the pair participated in [...]