Productivity lessons from the procrastinator Prime Minister December 17, 2018 Can we assume, given that you’re reading this section of the paper, that you are currently delaying doing something you really ought to be focusing on? I don’t mean to lecture you. I myself currently have an Oliver Spencer tab or two open on my browser. I spent most of last Wednesday Googling the viability [...]
The new Brexit Wars episode is out: May the force be with you December 17, 2018 Maybe it’s just me, but the Stormtroopers in the new Star Wars movies never seem to have the same menace as the old ones. Last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his colleagues in the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative party looked like they believed that they had gone old-school – Empire Strikes Back. [...]
Workers rights receive boost as government unveils new reforms package December 17, 2018 The government will today unveil a new package of workplace reforms in response to the Matthew Taylor review into working practices in the UK. Under the new legislative reforms, on their first day of a new job workers will receive a statement of rights for setting out their entitlements for annual leave and pay. The [...]
Will Tony Blair help or hinder the campaign for a second referendum? December 16, 2018 Of the four living former Prime Ministers, three are united in vocal and (to a varying degree) active opposition to current government policy. John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have taken very different approaches to life after Downing Street but what unites them now is support for a second referendum. Major has called for [...]
Theresa May attacks Tony Blair for ‘subverting’ Brexit process with call for a second vote December 16, 2018 Theresa May has launched a stinging attack on former Prime Minister Tony Blair, branding his efforts to bring about a second referendum an “insult to the office he once held”. The Prime Minister, who has endured a string of recent setbacks including defeats in parliament, a leadership challenge and a difficult trip to Brussels, accused her [...]
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt believes a version of Theresa May’s deal can get through parliament December 15, 2018 Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt believes that parliament could still back Theresa May's deal if the European Union provide assurances on it, but warned a no deal was still on the table. May pulled out of a vote on her Brexit deal at the start of the week, fearing a heavy defeat amid concerns over the [...]
Brexit: The EU referendum cost the taxpayer £129m to carry out December 14, 2018 The EU referendum in 2016 cost taxpayers £129.1m, the Electoral Commission has revealed. The UK's electoral watchdog said today that the biggest cost was administering the poll, which included the running of 40,000 polling stations, issuing postal votes and counting votes on the day, and totalled £94.5m. There were also statutory grants of £1.2m to both the [...]
Theresa May says ‘crystal clear’ EU must provide Brexit assurances after confronting Juncker December 14, 2018 Theresa May said this afternoon that she had a “robust” conversation with EU leader Jean-Claude Juncker over claims he called her “nebulous”, as she defended her Brexit deal despite a renegotiation looking unlikely. Speaking to media during a Brexit summit in Brussels, May addressed a video catching her and Juncker in the middle of a [...]
DUP leader Arlene Foster asks Theresa May if she will ‘roll over’ for EU on Brexit deal’s Irish backstop clause December 14, 2018 DUP leader Arlene Foster has asked Theresa May whether she will “roll over” for the EU over Brexit, piling further pressure onto the Prime Minister as she seeks changes to her withdrawal agreement in Brussels. Foster said today: “The Prime Minister has promised to get legally binding changes. The reaction by the EU is unsurprising. [...]
So what does the DUP really, really want? A no-deal Brexit December 14, 2018 “So tell me what you want, what you really, really want,” sang the Spice Girls in their debut single in June 1996, the same month that multi-party talks were established to kickstart the Irish peace process. Now, 22 years later, it is a question that could well be asked of the DUP. This week, all [...]