Derek Mackay: Scots finance secretary resigns amid teen messages claims February 6, 2020 Scotland’s finance secretary Derek Mackay has resigned just hours before he was due to give the budget amid claims he sent hundreds of messages to a 16-year-old boy. The 42-year-old Cabinet secretary for finance, economy and fair work contacted the boy on Facebook and Instagram. Reports suggest the pair exchanged 270 messages for around six [...]
Prime Minister gives Hammond and Clarke the nod for Lords February 6, 2020 Boris Johnson has nominated two of his most vocal critics – who he punished by removing the whip last year – for peerages. Former chancellors Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond were both sacked by the Prime Minister for blocking his plan to press on with a no deal Brexit in October. Although some of the [...]
Republicans acquit Donald Trump in impeachment trial February 6, 2020 President Donald Trump was acquitted yesterday in his Senate impeachment trial, saved by fellow Republicans who rallied to protect him nine months before he asks voters in a deeply divided America to give him a second White House term. The businessman-turned-politician, 73, survived only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history – just like [...]
Free the e-scooters and unleash a British transport revolution February 6, 2020 The e-scooter revolution is happening at breathtaking speeds — but because of archaic laws, the United Kingdom is missing out. E-scooters can be legally purchased in Britain, and have become an increasingly common sight on the streets. They are, however, unlawful for use on public roads, cycle paths and pavements under the Highways Act 1835 [...]
A PM with no tribe leaves himself vulnerable when things go south February 5, 2020 Even after the huge success of December’s general election, the Conservative tribes remain fully intact. The big question is which of the tribes, with competing and in many cases conflicting ideologies, Boris Johnson belongs to – and which of them he’s prepared to upset over the course of his term. The Tory party is not [...]
Handing John Bercow a peerage would be a ‘scandal’, says David Leakey February 5, 2020 Former speaker John Bercow should be blocked from the Lords, or risk plunging Westminster into “a scandal that parliament would struggle to live down”, the former Black Rod has claimed. David Leakey, who served as Black Rod for seven years, told the BBC that Bercow’s nomination for a peerage by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was [...]
Trump’s peace plan has shifted the Palestinian direction of travel February 5, 2020 History is usually a cruel mistress to its losers, particularly in the case of peoples attempting to create new nations who failed in their aspirations. Not much is heard today of the Republic of Biafra, for example, an attempt led largely by the Igbo people to create an independent state carved out of Nigeria’s eastern [...]
Champion of free trade? Prime Minister Boris Johnson must match rhetoric with action February 5, 2020 For believers in free trade, Boris Johnson’s speech in the Painted Hall on Monday was, in many ways, highly encouraging. The Prime Minister emphasised the role that free trade has played in lifting some of the poorest people on the planet out of poverty, name-checked Adam Smith and his invisible hand of the market, and [...]
Amber Rudd joins City firm Teneo to offer “strategic advice” February 4, 2020 Former home secretary Amber Rudd today announced she will be joining City PR giant Teneo Blue Rubicon, offering the firm’s clients “strategic advice”, after stepping down as a member of parliament before the December election. Rudd campaigned for ‘Stronger In’ during the EU referendum, where she worked closely with new Teneo colleague Sir Craig Oliver, [...]
UK pledges to be free trade champion as it takes independent seat at WTO February 4, 2020 The UK has pledged to be a champion for free trade in its first independent speech given at the World Trade Organization (WTO), having moved away from the EU bloc after Brexit Day last Friday. The move – first revealed by City AM two weeks ago – saw ambassador Julian Braithwaite take the seat next to [...]