With just a dash of flexibility, the Brexit endgame is in sight January 29, 2019 In 1982, three years into Margaret Thatcher’s first term, a monograph was published about the government’s economic progress bluntly titled: “Could do better”. Was it published by the Fabian Society, with its close affiliation to the Labour party? Or perhaps it was released by the recently established Social Democratic Party, formed by people on the [...]
DEBATE: With the top taxpayers revealed, is there a case for lowering the highest rate of income tax? January 29, 2019 With the top taxpayers revealed, is there a case for lowering the highest rate of income tax? Kate Andrews, associate director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says YES. With the tax burden at a 50-year high, there is almost always a case to be made for lowering whichever tax is up for discussion. This [...]
‘A farce!’ Tories react to Theresa May’s plan to back a change to her Brexit plan January 28, 2019 Theresa May is set for a showdown with the hard Brexit wing of her party on Tuesday as the war over her withdrawal plan intensifies. The Prime Minister will order her MPs to support a plan calling for the unpopular Irish backstop to be replaced with “alternative arrangements” to avoid a hard border on the island. [...]
Facebook tightens ad rules for EU political parties ahead of elections January 28, 2019 Facebook plans to toughen up rules surrounding paid political advertising in order to prevent foreign interference in elections. In his first public appearance since winning the job in October, former UK deputy prime minister and now Facebook global policy chief Sir Nick Clegg told reporters in Brussels today that Facebook will require political parties to [...]
Labour leadership accused of ‘weasel words’ over Venezuela by their own MPs January 28, 2019 Leading Labour MPs have been accused of “weasel words” on Venezuela after several signed a letter hitting out at the attempted ousting of the country’s dictatorial president, Nicolas Maduro. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and ten other MPs were among a host of signatories to the letter which appeared in the [...]
Is Yvette Cooper about to take back control of Brexit? Here’s what you need to know January 28, 2019 MPs are set for another vote on Brexit tomorrow, but it’s not quite the make or break moment some are spinning it as. In simple terms, MPs will vote to say whether the Prime Minister came to the Commons within three Parliamentary days of her historic defeat on the Withdrawal Agreement to set out her [...]
Boris Johnson promises Theresa May ‘full-throated support’ if she beats Brexit backstop with a ‘freedom clause’ January 28, 2019 Boris Johnson today upped the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May by calling on her to persuade the European Union to ditch the so-called Irish backstop. May’s widely unpopular Brexit deal – the result of two years of negotiations with the EU – was resoundingly rejected by parliament before Christmas, largely over concerns created by [...]
We’re not as stuck as the Brexit blues would have you believe January 28, 2019 IF YOU’RE looking for a meaningful vote of confidence tomorrow, look elsewhere than the sentiments of our 650 MPs. Instead try the 650,000 British businesses registered last year – each one a vote of confidence in the future. But when you’re surrounded by extremes, it’s hard not to get swept away by it all. As [...]
DEBATE: Will the new Franco-German pact help heal the EU’s divisions? January 28, 2019 Will the new Franco-German pact help heal the EU’s divisions? Dr Andrew W M Smith, historian of modern France at the University of Chichester, says YES. From its inception, European integration revolved around the axis of Franco-German unity. In 1963, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer tied the knot at the Elysee palace, and Emmanuel [...]
Dyson’s move is not hypocrisy – it’s shrewd January 28, 2019 Among some of the more committed anti-Brexit activists it has become fashionable to levy the charge of hypocrisy against pro-Leave business figures whose commercial activity appears insufficiently patriotic. For those Remainers for whom Brexit is synonymous with an inward-looking philosophy and a narrowing of the UK’s horizons, it is incompatible for someone to support Brexit [...]