This bland and disappointing Queen’s Speech is no remedy for our broken politics October 15, 2019 “Civilisation is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces.” So wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau, maybe somewhat cynically. Yet, listening to yesterday’s Queen’s Speech it is hard not to glimpse a thread of truth in Rousseau’s words. Longer sentences to make up for increased crime exacerbated by past cuts and the progressive breakdown [...]
DEBATE: Is Nicola Sturgeon overplaying her hand by demanding a Scottish independence referendum next year? October 15, 2019 Is Nicola Sturgeon overplaying her hand by demanding a Scottish independence referendum next year? Iain Anderson, executive chairman at Cicero Group, says YES. Sick and tired of being sick and tired of endless elections and referendums? I think most of us are. So when I heard Scotland’s first minister say this weekend that the SNP [...]
Want to ensure Britain’s future prosperity? Stop taking wealth creators for granted October 15, 2019 Last month, the UK reported record numbers of people in employment. With all the Brexit noise, it was easy to miss this incredible news. But a healthy jobs market is of critical importance to society. As a barometer of success, employment is for some (including me) more important than any other figure, including GDP. And [...]
Queen’s Speech: Government’s ‘priority’ is Hallowe’en Brexit October 14, 2019 The government has used the Queen’s Speech to reiterate its “priority” to making sure Brexit will happen on 31 October, with several of the 22 bills announced this morning setting out the UK’s post-EU future. Overarching the bulk of the state opening of parliament was the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which will ratify any [...]
Queen’s Speech live: The UK to ‘champion global free trade’ post-Brexit October 14, 2019 12.13pm That’s all from us Thanks for following our live blog this morning for the Queen’s Speech and state opening of parliament. For more coverage of the government’s new agenda, check out our coverage from political correspondent Catherine Neilan. 11.55am UK to continue to ‘play a leading role on global affairs’ The government “will ensure [...]
Chuka Umunna: Why Labour’s former star politician wants a City seat for the Lib Dems October 14, 2019 Not so long ago, Chuka Umunna looked like a Labour leader in waiting. The Lambeth-born smooth-talking solicitor-turned-politician, who counts rapper Tinie Tempah as one of his friends, was the cool one in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet. After the shock election result in 2015 prompted a Labour leadership campaign, the Streatham MP surprised no one by throwing his [...]
If you care about the kids, there’s no excuse not to legalise cannabis October 14, 2019 If we have the chance to reduce harm, we should take it. That idea – harm reduction – lies behind much of what any government seeks to do. It is an uncontroversial principle. Yet there is a key area of government policy which does not abide by it: drugs. Our government’s approach is to pursue [...]
In defence of my friend Dominic Cummings October 14, 2019 Everyone of a certain age who worked in New York or Washington has a 9/11 story; mine concerns Dominic Cummings. It was sometime early in the afternoon of the unforgettable, nightmarish day. Three planes had already slammed into the World Trade Centre Buildings and the Pentagon, inflicting their awful havoc. A fourth plane had been [...]
Exclusive: Queen’s Speech to include Financial Services Bill in bid to safeguard City October 14, 2019 Plans to safeguard the City’s global pre-eminence after Brexit will be laid bare today in the Queen’s Speech. City A.M. understands the government will include a Financial Services Bill in its legislation as part of an effort to ensure the sector stays at the forefront of international trading after it leaves the EU. Read more: [...]
Rees-Mogg urges Brexiteers to trust Boris Johnson on Brexit negotiations October 13, 2019 Arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has said compromises over Brexit “are inevitable” as he seeks to get leavers to trust Boris Johnson. Rees-Mogg wrote in The Telegraph today that Brexiteers must get behind any deal the prime minister strikes with the European Union in a message aimed at members of the Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG). Read [...]