US senators warn that UK digital sales tax could stop free trade deal July 23, 2020 Senior members of the US Senate’s finance committee have warned that the new UK digital sales tax could be a major barrier to a future free trade deal. Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Ron Wyden said the new levy “unnecessarily complicates the path forward for a US-UK trade deal”, while also calling for the UK [...]
Test and trace scheme misses 20 per cent of coronavirus patients July 23, 2020 The government’s coronavirus test and trace scheme failed to gather the contacts of 20 per cent of patients that tested positive for Covid-19, according to the latest official data. The Department of Health said this morning that 80 per cent of the 3,887 people that tested positive for Covid-19 were contacted by the scheme between [...]
Brexit: No progress expected in latest round of UK-EU trade talks July 23, 2020 UK and EU negotiators are expected to announce today that no significant progress had been made in the latest round of Brexit trade deal negotiations. Boris Johnson last month said he wanted the framework of free trade deal agreed between the UK and EU by July, however it looks like this deadline will pass with [...]
Phone masts as tall as Nelson’s Column will be allowed under new guidelines to speed up 5G rollout July 23, 2020 Mobile phone masts as tall as Nelson’s Column will be allowed without full planning permission, as the government last night ripped up guidelines in an effort to speed up the UK rollout of 5G and eliminate connectivity “not spots”. MPs yesterday scrapped rules requiring phone masts higher than 25 metres, or 20 metres in national [...]
Pompeo and Circumstance: The special relationship endures July 23, 2020 The visit of a US secretary of state to any country is always an eagerly anticipated affair. Short of a US presidential visit, there is little that can match the arrival of the global superpower’s leading diplomat onto any domestic stage, as can be testified by the extreme media and political interest these encounters provide. [...]
Rishi Sunak ‘turns his back on’ 1m in need of coronavirus support July 23, 2020 MPs today blasted chancellor Rishi Sunak’s coronavirus support measures, saying he has turned his back on 1m Brits during the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) today said Sunak’s response has failed to convince members he had done enough to support Brits impacted by coronavirus. “The chancellor has effectively drawn a line under helping [...]
US gives China 72 hours to shutter Houston embassy as spy charges rise July 22, 2020 Washington has given China just 72 hours to close its consulate in Houston, after the US accused two Chinese nationals of spying on US businesses and researchers. The warning marks a significant deterioration in relations between the world’s two largest economies, ramping up a war of words on both sides. The US State Department said [...]
UK companies lobby Mike Pompeo to ease travel restrictions and end tariff dispute July 22, 2020 A group of prominent UK companies used a meting to pressure US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and foreign secretary Dominic Raab to ease aviation restrictions and settle a long-running tariff dispute. Members of the BritishAmerican Business (BAB) lobby group met with Pompeo and Raab in London yesterday to discuss the two countries’ future trading [...]
Oliver Dowden: Joe Biden presidency will not change UK Huawei sanctions July 22, 2020 The UK’s sanctions on Huawei are unlikely to be lifted if Joe Biden wins the November US election, according to digital secretary Oliver Dowden. The UK banned Huawei from supplying any more equipment to build the UK’s new 5G network, beginning from next year, after the US leveled sanctions on the Chinese telecoms giant. All [...]
Labour apologises to BBC Panorama over antisemitism claims and hands out six-figure settlement July 22, 2020 Labour has formally apologised to BBC’s Panorama for claiming it had misrepresented allegations of antisemitism within the party, and promised to shell out “substantial damages” to whistleblowers who sued the party over the row. The party issued an unreserved apology at the High Court after agreeing to settle a defamation lawsuit by seven Labour whistleblowers [...]