Brexit bites: Tories and Labour suffer local election backlash amid deadlocked negotiations May 3, 2019 Voters expressed their frustration with Theresa May’s Conservative party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour at the ballot box yesterday, it has emerged, as results continue to pour in across the UK. So far both major parties have accepted they have suffered a backlash over gridlocked Brexit negotiations, with representatives having made little progress in cross-party talks. [...]
The tangled Huawei web isn’t just about Gavin Williamson May 3, 2019 To say that Gavin Williamson was neither widely liked nor widely respected in Westminster would be an understatement. Often a figure of ridicule for the pet tarantula kept on his desk when he was chief whip, his former life as a fireplace salesman, and gaffes like saying Russia should “go away and shut up”, he [...]
DEBATE: With another strike planned, should industrial action on the Tube be banned? May 3, 2019 With a strike planned over the FA Cup weekend, should industrial action on the Tube be banned? Keith Prince, the GLA Conservatives’ transport spokesman, says YES. Workers should have a right to redress, for example if they have legitimate safety concerns. But all too often, we have seen “safety” being used by unions as an excuse [...]
It’s time to fix regulation and scrap socialism for the banks May 3, 2019 For too long, it has been possible for bankers to make massive profits while socialising losses through subsidies, deposit schemes, public ownership, and bailouts in times of crisis. This creates a moral hazard: bankers are encouraged by the regulatory regime to take on excessive risk, allowed to issue limited equity, and in case of a [...]
Pennies saved as Philip Hammond sets up committee to protect access to cash May 3, 2019 Cash machines will be protected by a new government-led committee, Philip Hammond will announce today as he unveils a new taskforce to safeguard access to physical money. The Treasury-led group will coordinate work across the country to ensure people can still get to their cash in an increasingly digital payment focused economy. The Chancellor will [...]
Margaret Thatcher voted top Prime Minister on 40th anniversary of her first election win May 3, 2019 Margaret Thatcher has been ranked as the UK’s greatest post-war Prime Minister in a survey marking the 40th anniversary of her first election victory. Read more: CBI expresses 'deep concern' at prospect of Prime Minister Boris Johnson A Yougov poll placed Thatcher top of the pile, with 21 per cent of respondents saying she was [...]
Guilty until proven innocent? May 2, 2019 The brutal but surgical dismissal of Gavin Williamson, the secretary of state for defence, came like a sudden bolt from a clear blue sky. The Huawei leak scandal had been brewing for a while, but Whitehall veterans assumed, as did many, that it would go the way of a thousand government leak inquiries before it; [...]
US attorney general William Barr ducks Mueller report hearing amid calls to quit May 2, 2019 US attorney general William Barr has refused to appear in front of the House Judiciary Committee today, after facing a grilling in the Senate yesterday over his handling of the Mueller report. In a statement released yesterday, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that it was in part the Judiciary committee's decision to have a [...]
Gavin Williamson claims a police investigation into claims he leaked would clear his name May 2, 2019 Disgraced former defence secretary Gavin Williamson has challenged Theresa May to trigger a police investigation into claims he leaked information from a top secret government committee. Williamson, who was dramatically axed from the cabinet on Wednesday, believes May would have to give him the “nicest apology” after a Met inquiry as it would clear him [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan’s approval rating goes negative for first time since election May 2, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan’s popularity has dropped into negative figures for the first time. Data from a You Gov poll for December showed Khan had a net approval rating of minus one. The poll of 1,000 people, commissioned by City Hall, showed 32 per cent said they were satisfied and 33 per cent dissatisfied. Read [...]