Boris Johnson to amend Brexit bill to rip out no-deal concessions December 17, 2019 Boris Johnson will bring his Brexit bill before a new intake of MPs this week without the concessions he made before the election, City A.M. understands. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill – the key legislation that will pave the way for the UK to leave the European Union on 31 January – is expected to come [...]
Nicky Morgan stays as Culture Secretary as Boris kicks off mini-reshuffle December 16, 2019 Boris Johnson has named new ministers as he looks to fill the roles vacated by the election – but has also re-appointed Nicky Morgan as culture secretary despite her standing down as an MP. Morgan will become a peer in the House of Lords but retain her brief overseeing culture, media, sport and digital. In [...]
Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings eye Whitehall overhaul December 16, 2019 A newly emboldened Prime Minister is expected to be planning a major shake-up of Whitehall, overturning many of the reforms brought in by Theresa May and cutting back on the number of government departments. Boris Johnson is understood to be looking at scrapping the Department for International Development (DfID), long seen by the Tory right [...]
TfL and Sadiq Khan to write to government in funding bid December 16, 2019 Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) will write to the new government in a bid to secure funding for several big ticket transport projects. TfL’s newly released five-year business plan said the government’s 2019 spending round statement had not provided long-term funding certainty past 2021. Read more: Crossrail delay until 2021 may cost London [...]
PM signs off report on Russian interference in UK politics December 16, 2019 A parliamentary report looking at Russia’s involvement in UK politics is ready to be published, having finally been signed off by the Prime Minister. The report, carried out earlier this year by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), is believed to have considered the Kremlin’s influence through social media, donations and political ties. Read more: [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan slams Jeremy Corbyn and tells him to go ‘quickly’ December 16, 2019 Sadiq Khan has savaged Jeremy Corbyn in the aftermath of Labour’s historic election defeat, saying he needs to “quickly” step down as leader. The Labour mayor of London criticised Corbyn for his role in the party’s landslide defeat, saying much of it had to do with him not being “credible”. Read more: ‘You can’t make [...]
Labour leadership contest: Who will take over from Jeremy Corbyn? December 16, 2019 Labour is still licking its wounds from the drubbing it got in last week’s election – and leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will stay in place to enable a “period of reflection”. Indeed, as has now become fairly standard within the Labour party, the process, and who will be selecting the shortlist, has been [...]
Dominic Cummings may be ruthless, but he delivers when it comes to securing victory December 16, 2019 The Tories’ election victory may have been fronted by the indefatigable Boris Johnson, but underlying it was the vindication of a strategy conceived by his chief advisor: Dominic Cummings. He may have gained notoriety as campaign director of Vote Leave in the EU referendum, but it was his role in masterminding the 2004 “North East [...]
OBR: Accounting changes push up UK borrowing by £20bn a year December 16, 2019 The UK’s budget watchdog has said that government borrowing will increase by around £20bn a year due to accounting changes, highlighting the fine line chancellor Sajid Javid will have to tread to meet his new spending rules. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s updated forecasts (OBR) showed that the budget deficit – the difference between spending [...]
Senior Labour MP says BBC ‘played a part’ in election defeat December 16, 2019 A senior Labour MP has accused the BBC of “consciously” playing a role in the party’s election defeat, as figures on both ends of the political spectrum take aim at the broadcaster over perceived bias. Shadow transport minister Andy McDonald said the BBC and other broadcasters had allowed Jeremy Corybn to be “demonised and vilified” [...]