Theresa May urges MPs to back her Brexit deal as crunch vote approaches January 6, 2019 Theresa May has issued another plea to MPs to back her Brexit deal, saying it is the only way to honour the result of the referendum and protect jobs. MPs will return to parliament tomorrow where they will be preparing for the second vote on Brexit, after the first was ceremoniously pulled by May in the [...]
‘No way’ DUP will back May’s Brexit deal, says senior party member January 4, 2019 A senior DUP member has said there is “no way” his party will back Theresa May’s Brexit deal due to concerns over the backstop agreement. Sammy Wilson, who is Brexit spokesperson for the DUP, said he was “more alarmed” than ever about the impact the deal would have on Northern Ireland. “It’s not just because of [...]
Government finds 150 lorries to test Dover crossing congestion in case of no-deal Brexit January 4, 2019 Operation Brock, the system designed to minimise disruption at the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit, will be tested for the first time next week. A total of 150 HGV lorries will trial the route from Manston Airport to Dover as part of the Department for Transport’s contingency planning for the UK’s departure from [...]
Brexit in 2019: The only certainty is uncertainty January 4, 2019 Predicting what will happen in the world of politics is a notoriously difficult task at the best of times, but in the current all-bets-are-off climate, surely only a fool would give it a go. City A.M.’s Owen Bennett is that fool, and here are his tips for what to look out for. Brexit May's Brexit [...]
House votes to end shutdown despite Trump veto threat over border wall January 4, 2019 The US House of Representatives has voted to end the partial government shutdown without funding President Donald Trump’s border wall. The congress, which is now under Democrat control, passed a bill to fund homeland security until 8 February, as well as measures to fund other federal agencies currently affected by the shutdown. But the move [...]
Poll: Most Tories would back a no-deal Brexit rather than support Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement January 4, 2019 More than half of Tory party members prefer a no-deal Brexit over Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, a new poll today suggests. Around 57 per cent of Conservatives would support leaving the EU with no agreement compared to just 23 per cent prepared to back the Prime Minister’s vision. The Yougov poll, funded by the Economic and [...]
Alexa: Tell me why I can’t have a flying car like in Blade Runner January 4, 2019 Bad news: it’s 2019, and that means we are now living through the year in which the original Blade Runner film was set. Released in 1982, Blade Runner has some interesting ideas about 2019. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape where sentient bioengineered robots (“replicants”) must be hunted down against a backdrop of a dying [...]
From sugar to saving, this government is treating us like a nation of children January 4, 2019 The morning I turned eight, I woke up and told my father that I was “halfway there”. This, in my home state of Connecticut, was in reference to getting my driving licence, a process I could start on my sixteenth birthday. As a kid, this was the milestone that I was most excited to reach, [...]
DEBATE: Is transport secretary Chris Grayling right to blame the unions for rail fare hikes? January 4, 2019 Is transport secretary Chris Grayling right to blame the unions for rail fare hikes? Duncan Simpson, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says YES. This week’s fare rise is, quite understandably, infuriating for many commuters. But passenger outrage is being misdirected. Huge progress has been made since privatisation: passenger numbers and overall satisfaction are up, and [...]
The internet is a positive force, not a menace to be controlled January 4, 2019 There is no doubt that the internet industry faces many challenges. The same tools that allow information to pass from one user to another, or to join a business with a customer on the other side of the world, can be put to bad uses by bad actors. But amid the torrents of negative headlines [...]