No-deal Brexit fears have increased, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warns June 26, 2019 Market expectations of a no-deal Brexit have increased over the last few months, Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney warned today. The uncertainty surrounding the UK’s future relationship with the European Union is having a greater impact on businesses than before the original Brexit deadline date of 29 March. Read more: 150,000 firms not [...]
Rory Stewart throws weight behind Hunt in Tory leadership contest June 26, 2019 International development secretary Rory Stewart has confirmed he is backing foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to be the next prime minister. “I’m not a supporter of Boris and I wouldn’t serve in his cabinet, so I’m supporting Jeremy Hunt,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. Read more: Boris Johnson challenges Jeremy Hunt to commit to 31 [...]
DEBATE: Is the obsessive focus from politicians on increasing home ownership misguided? June 26, 2019 Is the obsessive focus from politicians on increasing home ownership misguided? Clive Docwra, managing director of McBains, says YES. Politicians are obsessed with home ownership, including both contenders for Prime Minister. Jeremy Hunt has put a new “right to own” policy at the heart of his bid, while Boris Johnson has backed replacing Help to [...]
Tragedy awaits if we don’t bridge the gap between beliefs and reality in the NHS June 26, 2019 A tragic story over the weekend revealed how a man who died of lung cancer was failed abysmally by the NHS. Two separate sets of doctors omitted to tell him for over a year that he had the disease. The added poignancy of the news item was that the victim was a relative of Nye [...]
Boris Johnson challenges Jeremy Hunt to commit to 31 October Brexit date June 25, 2019 Boris Johnson has challenged his leadership rival Jeremy Hunt to commit to bringing the UK out of the EU on 31 October – regardless of whether a deal has been agreed. In a letter published on his Twitter feed, Johnson argues Brexit must take place by the end of the extension period – or the [...]
Boris Johnson reveals he makes models of buses to relax, and Twitter lost it June 25, 2019 As mayor of London Boris Johnson may have been more synonymous with his eponymous Boris bikes, but these days he is far more at home with buses, it would seem. The Tory leadership contest favourite has hit back at negative headlines after police were called to a domestic row between him and his girlfriend Carrie [...]
Boris Johnson defends Halloween no-deal Brexit pledge June 25, 2019 Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson has doubled down on his threat to leave the EU in a no-deal Brexit by Halloween. Johnson said today he did “not believe for a moment” the UK would leave the EU without a deal. Read more: Boris Johnson tax cuts plan could cost UK £20bn a year But the [...]
Boris Johnson’s tax cuts plan could cost UK £20bn per year June 25, 2019 Boris Johnson’s tax cuts plan could cost the UK up to £20bn per year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank. The Tory leadership candidate has pledged to hike the threshold for higher rate income tax to £80,000 from its current £50,000. Read more: Sky cancels live TV debate after Boris pulls [...]
The special Anglo-American relationship is still worth celebrating – and defending June 25, 2019 To understand how close the relationship between Britain and America really is, consider a conversation that took place in December 2003, between the heads of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK’s GCHQ. There was intelligence, the US intelligence chief said, to suggest that al-Qaeda was planning a nuclear attack. So if [...]
DEBATE: Will character matter more than policy detail in the Tory leadership contest? June 25, 2019 Will character matter more than policy detail in the Tory leadership contest? Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, says YES. Our members aren’t going to cast their votes based on policy minutiae. Plainly, whether or not you think that they should, they’ll be voting on character. When I say “character”, I don’t mean it in the [...]