People’s Vote power struggle: Two senior figures forced out October 28, 2019 The sacked head of communications for the People’s Vote campaign has said he will still go into work today, despite being asked to leave his position. Tom Baldwin was sacked last night along with People’s Vote director James McGory in an escalation of an ongoing power struggle within the campaign. Read more: People’s vote campaigners [...]
EU grants full Brexit extension until 31 January 2020 October 28, 2019 The EU has granted a three month extension to the Brexit process, paving the way for a general election this side of Christmas. This morning European Council president Donald Tusk tweeted that the EU27 member states would “accept the UK’s request” for Article 50 to be delayed until 31 January. That means Prime Minister Boris [...]
MPs to vote on Boris Johnson’s 12 December general election bid October 28, 2019 MPs will vote later today on Boris Johnson’s proposed general election date of 12 December. In order for the motion to pass, two-thirds of MPs (434) need to vote in favour of it under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA). Read more: When will we have a UK general election? Jeremy Corbyn said that Labour would [...]
Rory Stewart: The mayoral candidate in need of a London story October 28, 2019 It might feel like a lifetime ago, but turn the clock back to the summer and for a brief moment it felt as if the Conservative party could be about to anoint Rory Stewart as Prime Minister. The dark horse candidate, who stood on a ticket of soft Brexit – code for being “anyone but [...]
Beware the chilling consequences of facial recognition technology on society October 28, 2019 Since the 1950s, researchers have been working towards the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI). Now, as last week’s City A.M. feature outlined, recent advances are moving out of the lab and into our daily lives – with disturbing implications. Facial recognition systems, powered by these developments in AI, are spreading into society. This is [...]
Syria is the climax in the long battle over the soul of American foreign policy October 28, 2019 In defying the American foreign policy establishment, I once wrote a book that cost me my job. In 2006, in response to the looming debacle in Iraq, the British thinker Anatol Lieven and I wrote Ethical Realism. It was a broadside castigating the brain-dead, pro-interventionist intellectual sameness of the US foreign policy establishment, and the [...]
Number 10 could explore Lib Dem-inspired plan if Monday election motion fails October 27, 2019 A December general election became more likely this morning, after the government hinted it could use a similar plan to one mooted by the Lib Dems to enshrine an election in law, should its efforts to call a poll via conventional means fail tomorrow. The government will table a motion calling for a 12 December [...]
Government ‘should overhaul’ stamp duty to boost housing market October 27, 2019 The government should slash stamp duty to help boost housebuilding and encourage people to buy their own homes, a new report has stated. Stamp duty is the second most unpopular UK levy behind inheritance tax, and a gradual rise in rates has meant the average buyer in England pays £2,300 when they buy a property. [...]
Microsoft beats Amazon to Pentagon’s $10bn cloud computing contract October 26, 2019 Microsoft has won a cloud-computing contract from the Pentagon worth $10bn (£8bn). The contract is for the Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure, dubbed Jedi, is for a 10-year period. Read more: Cloud computing drives Microsoft revenue up The project is aimed at making the US defence department more technologically agile. Amazon had been favourites for the [...]
Government denies report it will seek to weaken workers’ rights after Brexit October 26, 2019 The government has denied a report that it will seek to weaken workers’ rights after the UK leaves the EU. The Financial Times published extracts of leaked documents from the department for exiting the European Union on saturday, which said a “level playing field” commitment to the EU “leaves room for interpretation”. Read more: Sajid [...]