General Election 2019: Boris Johnson hints at plans to hike National Insurance threshold November 20, 2019 A Conservative government would put up the National Insurance threshold to £12,000 as part of plans to “cut tax for working people”, Boris Johnson said today. During an apparently unintended revelation as part of a question and answer session in a Teeside factor, the Prime Minister told reporters he would increase the rate at which [...]
General Election 2019: Liberal Democrats pitch party as ‘natural home of business’ November 20, 2019 The Liberal Democrats are pitching themselves as the “natural home of business” with a slew of policies due to be unveiled in the party manifesto that it claims will bolster the UK’s economy. Warning of challenges including artificial intelligence, climate change and Brexit, the Lib Dems argue that the two main parties are backwards looking [...]
Businesses need to keep up with rapidly changing career expectations November 20, 2019 Amid some of the General Election’s less gratifying headlines, it’s encouraging to see a serious discussion of the future of skills and learning unfolding. The Liberal Democrats have pledged to introduce a £10,000 “skills wallet” for every adult in the UK to put towards their future education and training, while Labour has promised free retraining [...]
UK summons Chinese ambassador over accusations China tortured Hong Kong consulate worker November 20, 2019 The UK has summoned China’s ambassador after a former employee of the British consulate in China alleged he was tortured by Chinese police. Hong Kong citizen Simon Cheng said he was tortured during a 15-day detention by police in mainland China. Cheng said Chinese secret police shackled him, beat him and deprived him of sleep [...]
General Election 2019: Liberal Democrats pledge commuter fare freeze November 20, 2019 The Liberal Democrats will today pledge to freeze commuter fares for the next five years as part of a series of policies outlined in their manifesto. The party, which is seeking to win a number of key London seats by wooing the capital’s Remain voters, will set out plans to keep season tickets and rail [...]
Google admits major underreporting of General Election ad spend November 20, 2019 Google has admitted to severely underreporting spending on UK political advertising ahead of the upcoming General Election, with errors affecting both the Conservative and Labour parties. Google’s weekly transparency reports on advertising spending by political parties and other organisations contain major discrepancies because heavy spending on search terms is not always recorded, The Guardian reported. [...]
Dominic Raab: ‘No-one gives a toss’ about Tory party’s factcheckUK Twitter stunt November 20, 2019 Dominic Raab has said that “no-one gives a toss” that the Conservative Party has been accused of misleading the public by renaming their Twitter account ‘factcheckUK’ during last night’s leaders debate. The Conservatives have faced criticism from fact checkers and Twitter after changing the name of the @CCHQPress account during the ITV debate between Boris [...]
Keep calm, and don’t get carried away by lurid rumours about the Russia report November 20, 2019 One of the great mysteries of this election campaign to date has been why an unpublished report should be the cause of great and sustained political hysteria. This document has been cited by numerous sources as of pivotal significance to national security. Even Hillary Clinton — remember her? — has popped up to opine solemnly [...]
DEBATE: Will more government subsidies help solve the childcare crisis for working parents? November 20, 2019 Will more government subsidies help solve the childcare crisis for working parents? Harini Iyengar, GLA candidate for the Women’s Equality Party, says YES. I am answering “yes” to this question — but I would first reframe it as greater government investment, not a subsidy. While childcare is traditionally framed as a cost, raising the next [...]
The Conservatives’ U-turn on corporate tax rates is a mistake November 20, 2019 The big announcement to come out of Boris Johnson’s appearance before the CBI on Monday was that the Tories are abandoning planned a reduction in the corporation tax rate from 19 per cent to 17 per cent. The reasoning behind this is that the tax cut was expected to cost the government £6bn, which Boris [...]