I recreated all my favourite TV tropes, from crawling through pipes to being two kids in a trenchcoat
Jonathan Reynolds backs UK-India trade deal despite Tory tax backlash June 18, 2025 As the UK and India move into the final phase of negotiations on a landmark free trade agreement (FTA), business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds has doubled down on his support of the deal – despite mounting Conservative criticism over provisions relating to labour mobility and taxation. The UK-India FTA, concluded in principle on 6 [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund a misnomer, MPs told June 18, 2025 Labour’s National Wealth Fund faced renewed calls for clarity on Wednesday as the Treasury Committee continued its inquiry into the government’s new body. The government’s rebrand of the National Wealth Fund (NWF) from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) in October 2024 has raised questions amid confusion of the two bodies’ remits. Academics and think tank [...]
Housing for servicepeople should be ‘defence policy priority’, Tories say June 18, 2025 Housing for servicepeople should be a “defence policy priority”, the Conservatives have said as they unveiled their new defence strategy. On Friday, Iran launched an attack on Israel in retaliation to Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out US involvement, with the caveat that he is “not [...]
James Dyson: Labour is killing aspiration in UK June 18, 2025 Britain’s “myopic” civil servants, politicians and judges are squashing aspiration, according to billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson in a scathing attack on the current Labour government. Writing in a column in The Sun, the UK’s third richest person said that he worries that Britain “no longer has the aspiration to create the Dysons of the [...]
India Global Forum 2025 kicks off in London today June 18, 2025 India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds are set to open IGF London 2025 today in the first public discussion since the finalisation of the UK–India Free Trade Agreement. Running from 18 to 20 June, the event serves as the foremost platform to outline the bilateral [...]
Council finances in dire straits, MPs say June 18, 2025 Councils could run out of money in 2026 due to unsustainable book balancing methods, according to parliamentarians. The hike in national insurance contributions (NIC), combined with spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), has squeezed local council finances, a new report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found. Despite Reform’s DOGE campaign, they [...]
St James’ Place: Labour’s dividend tax plans could backfire June 18, 2025 Any attempt to get more cash through increasing the top rate of tax on dividends may backfire and instead dry up revenue streams, Chancellor Reeves has been warned, as investors look to this year’s Autumn Budget with a sense of dread. Reeves is poised to hike taxes later this year by as much as £20bn [...]
Tories: Labour desperate to use bookies tax to bail out Rachel Reeves June 17, 2025 Shadow sport and gambling minister Louie French has ripped into the Government over its plans for gambling taxes so soon after a sector white paper, describing them as a threat to bookies and horseracing. The Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup said Labour were “desperate” to find “easy tax rises to bail out Rachel [...]
Losses continue at maker of BBC Question Time as jobs shed June 17, 2025 Losses have continued at the production company behind the likes of Amazon’s UK Premier League coverage and Question Time for the BBC after its turnover was slashed by £70m over two years. Tinopolis Group has reported a pre-tax loss of £21.1m for the 12 months to 30 September, 2024, having also posted a loss of [...]
Secure Trust Bank taps Labour donor tied to cronyism scandal as new boss June 17, 2025 An ex-Treasury director who was at the heart of Labour’s “cronyism” scandal has been tapped to take the helm at specialist lender Secure Trust Bank. Ian Corfield, who also spent nearly a decade as chief commercial officer of New Day, will replace retiring chief executive David McReadie. Corfield stepped down from his civil servant role [...]