Government cancels no-deal Brexit ferry contracts at £50m cost to taxpayer May 1, 2019 The Department for Transport (DfT) has cancelled its no-deal Brexit contracts with ferry companies, racking up heavy costs for the taxpayer. Read more: Government ferry contracts to cost millions more if Brexit is delayed The government last year spent more than £100m chartering extra ferries to ease congestion in the Channel in the event that [...]
Tories enraged after Liz Truss gaffe lifts lid on £130,000 dinner between May, cabinet and former Russian politician’s wife May 1, 2019 Liz Truss has accidentally revealed that the wife of a former Russian senior politician and ally of Vladimir Putin paid the Tories £135,000 to have dinner with Prime Minister Theresa May and several other cabinet ministers – via an Instagram post. Read more: Truss urges Tories to back May's deal and says UK should slash [...]
Our healthcare system is trapped in an impasse as pharmaceutical firms struggle to fund medical innovations May 1, 2019 The price of technological innovations in health care has once again been brought into focus. Orkambi, a new pharmaceutical treatment for a specific type of cystic fibrosis has not been approved for availability on the NHS because its price is deemed too high. Meanwhile, there is panic at the relentless rise of fatal antibiotic-resistant infections [...]
Extinction Rebellion hates capitalism, but these climate change protesters wouldn’t exist without it May 1, 2019 The Extinction Rebellion protesters on the streets of London seemed to consist of two disparate interest groups: pensioners and the young. Their shared connection is that most of them – certainly in the former group – seemed to be affluent. An identical alliance was observed a few months ago in the rather unlikely setting of the [...]
DEBATE: Should we be concerned about our freedoms as the UK is placed fourth in the Nanny State Index? May 1, 2019 Should we be concerned about our freedoms as the UK is placed fourth in the Nanny State Index? Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, says YES. The Institute of Economic Affairs is right to criticise the UK by ranking it as one of the least free countries in terms of excessive regulation of alcohol, food, and tobacco. [...]
Business secretary Greg Clark set to announce £100m funding for British Steel April 30, 2019 Business secretary Greg Clark is set to announce a £100m funding package for British Steel. Sky News reported that Clark will announce the pledge in the House of Commons tomorrow after the UK’s second-biggest steelmaker made the request for emergency funding to pay an EU climate levy. According to the report, government funding has been [...]
Brexit offers a chance for bold, liberalising immigration reform – but Brexit paralysis prevents the government from grasping the chance April 30, 2019 Given how much the government is struggling to actually leave the European Union it should come as no surprise that it also struggles with key areas of policy that Brexit brings to the front and centre of the stage. Immigration policy is one prominent example and an area where the government still lurches from one [...]
Labour opts for status quo on second Brexit referendum after five-hour meeting April 30, 2019 Labour’s top decision making body today stopped short of committing the party to support for a second Brexit referendum in the upcoming European election campaign. After a five hour meeting, Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) decided not to back a second referendum in its European election manifesto. Read more: Tories trail Brexit party, Labour and [...]
Michael Gove meeting ‘disappointing’, says climate protest group Extinction Rebellion April 30, 2019 Climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has said it was left “frustrated” by talks with environment minister Michael Gove today, because he would not declare a climate emergency. Read more: Climate protesters blockade Treasury in action against finance sector Activists said Gove committed to discussions with London mayor Sadiq Khan on holding a citizens assembly on [...]
European elections poll: Conservatives trail Brexit party and Labour with 13 per cent of vote April 30, 2019 A new poll has put the Conservatives behind Labour, the Brexit party and Change UK as voters prepare for the European elections almost three years since 2016's vote to quit the EU. Theresa May's party is on track to win just 11 per cent of the vote in London, well behind Labour’s 28 per cent, [...]