Britain stands to lose more than its Marbles if it folds now February 21, 2020 There’s a new pawn in the game of Brexit chess — 17 pawns, in fact, life-size and made of marble, plus 247 feet of sculpted frieze. The EU sparked a panic this week, when its draft negotiating mandate revealed a clause concerning the need to address “issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully [...]
Exclusive: Did someone say chicken? UK preparing to break with EU on food safety at WTO meeting February 20, 2020 Downing Street is considering taking an independent stance on food safety at an upcoming WTO summit, in yet another breach of transition rules within the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The stage will be set when the US formally welcomes the UK as an independent member of the WTO during a meeting about sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) [...]
Mayor of London election candidates have £420,000 campaign spending limit February 20, 2020 Candidates in the 2020 mayor of London election will have a limit of £420,000 to spend during the official campaign. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will go head-to-head with Tory candidate Shaun Bailey, independent candidate Rory Stewart, Liberal Democrat Siobhan Benita and Green party co-leader on 7 May. Khan’s odds are as short as 1/7 [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to sign Khan’s London pledges February 20, 2020 Labour leadership frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer has refused to sign a set of so-called London pledges drawn up by Sadiq Khan. City A.M. exclusively reported last week that the mayor of London had asked the remaining three party leadership candidates — Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Nandy — to sign a set of six pledges aimed [...]
Downing Street poised to axe business councils February 20, 2020 Downing Street is planning a major shake-up of the way it deals with the business community, with officials planning to scrap the system created by Theresa May. Number 10 officials are poised to axe the five business councils set up by the former Prime Minister around business lines, including one for financial and professional services. [...]
US presses Downing Street again in ‘frank’ talks over Huawei February 20, 2020 A senior US official has met with Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings in the hope of getting the government to change its mind over Huawei’s involvement the UK’s 5G network. Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney today met with Cummings and the Prime Minister’s chief strategic adviser Eddie Lister in what sources [...]
Chart attack: EU and UK at war over misleading stats in Brexit trade talks February 20, 2020 A row has erupted between the UK and EU over both sides’ misleading use of charts to score political points in Brexit trade talks. Yesterday the European Commission published a series of new slides arguing why the UK should not be granted the same kind of trade deal as Canada. Read more: EU ‘fails to [...]
DEBATE: Should business be concerned about the planned immigration curbs on low-skilled workers? February 20, 2020 Should business be concerned about the planned immigration curbs on low-skilled workers? Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, says YES. The proposals announced yesterday are overly restrictive and will halt business growth in huge swathes of the economy. They also give very little time for business to adjust and adapt, as the government has said [...]
Dominic Cummings’ war on conventions is just getting going February 19, 2020 Much is being made of Dominic Cummings’ supposed overreach this week. His attack on the BBC proved so brutal that even Auntie-sceptic John Whittingdale blanched, while one of Number 10’s newly-hired “weirdos and misfits” had voiced his support for marital rape and sympathy for eugenics in online forums. Andrew Sabinsky’s Downing Street career lasted just [...]
EU immigration proposals bad for London, says mayoral candidate Rory Stewart February 19, 2020 The government’s newly released EU immigration proposals have been rubbished by Rory Stewart, with the mayoral candidate claiming he would fight them if elected. Home secretary Priti Patel launched the new immigration plan today, saying the government wanted “economically inactive” Britons to take the place of low-skilled foreigners. As a part of the new points-based [...]