This government will use free enterprise as a force for good November 20, 2018 Last week, Cabinet Office staff visited a company called Clarity, a soap-making social enterprise established in 1845. In addition to sampling some of the excellent soap they supply to our department, they met the employees who make their products, all of whom have disabilities or long-term health conditions. Clarity is deeply committed to supporting and [...]
Supreme Court rejects UK government appeal against Brexit reversal case November 20, 2018 The UK’s Supreme Court today rejected the government’s bid to prevent the possibility of its Brexit decision being reversed. The failure of the government’s appeal means the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will go ahead and hear the case of whether Article 50 can be reversed on 27 November. The court will hear the case [...]
DEBATE: Do protests over fuel duty rises show that President Macron is out of touch with French citizens? November 20, 2018 Do protests over fuel duty rises show that President Macron is out of touch with French citizens? Beatrice Timpson, director at Media Intelligence Partners, says YES. “I want to rule like Jupiter,” President Emmanuel Macron famously declared, “above the political maelstrom.” To be fair to Macron, he has always been consistent. His is the vox dei, [...]
Labour’s childish antics over Brexit are an embarrassment November 20, 2018 The Brexit deal is on the table and the bids to support it, scrap it, or make it utterly redundant are now in full swing. As Theresa May moves forward with her plan to engineer a parliamentary majority for a proposed exit deal, clear political camps have begun to form. The Tory moderates who have [...]
Google and DeepMind are playing fast and loose with society’s trust November 20, 2018 Last week, we were greeted by the disturbing news that DeepMind, an artificial intelligence subsidiary owned by Google’ s parent company Alphabet, is moving some of its healthcare activities into the newly formed Google Health. This isn’t the first time that one of the tech giants has been accused of making misrepresentations to consumers, using [...]
DUP abstain from key votes sending Brexit warning to Theresa May November 19, 2018 Theresa May has suffered a fresh blow tonight as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) abstained on several key Finance Bill votes, breaking a voting deal and sending a warning to the government. Just hours earlier DUP leader Arlene Foster had said May should demand a better Brexit deal. The confidence and supply agreement negotiated by Foster [...]
CBI chief calls Labour’s approach to business more ‘command and control than partnership’ November 19, 2018 The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has accused Jeremy Corbyn of offering a "command and control" approach to business rather than partnership after the Labour leader addressed its annual conference earlier today. CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn said firms had made an offer to Labour to work with business to create a "truly competitive and fair country". [...]
McLaren boss backs May’s Brexit plan, saying no deal is ‘not an option’ for businesses November 19, 2018 The boss of car manufacturer McLaren has backed Theresa May’s draft Brexit agreement, saying crashing out of the European Union without a deal is “not an option” for British industry. Mike Flewitt said May’s withdrawal agreement, which the Prime Minister is currently trying to sell to her MPs, would “provide urgently-needed certainty and an implementation period [...]
Theresa May wants UK to be out of EU transition period before general election in 2022 November 19, 2018 Theresa May has reaffirmed her commitment to taking the UK out of the EU transition period in time for the next scheduled general election in 2022. Delivering a keynote speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), May hinted that she would not let the transition period extend until the end of 2022. The pound slipped [...]
Dropping ‘mansize’ from Kleenex boxes is a good move, but won’t solve gender inequality November 19, 2018 Last month, Kleenex finally scrapped the use of the word “mansize” from its branding after 60 years on the shelves. The decision sees the world-famous tissue brand become the latest in a long line of well-known names to distance itself from gender-specific marketing. In recent decades, Yorkie’s “it’s not for girls”, Snickers’ “get some nuts”, [...]