Do not succumb to the ‘Fat Cat Friday’ outrage January 3, 2019 As if Greggs’ vegan sausage rolls hadn’t prompted enough misplaced shock and outrage for the start of a new year, you can expect more of the same this morning when campaigners declare it to be “Fat Cat Friday”. The High Pay Centre, which opposes current levels of executive remuneration, calculates that by this afternoon a [...]
Trump blames US government shutdown on Democrats’ 2020 election efforts January 3, 2019 US President Donald Trump has blamed the ongoing partial federal government shutdown on his opponents playing politics, as the new look Democrat-controlled congress convenes for the first time. Shortly before newly-elected members were sworn into the House of Representatives, including two Muslims, Trump said Democrats were “going all out on the desperately needed Wall and [...]
DUP still has ‘principled objections’ to May’s Brexit deal after Downing Street meeting January 3, 2019 Theresa May’s hopes of winning key support for her Brexit deal appear to have suffered another blow after the DUP said its “principled objections” remain. Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s leader in Westminster, met with May in Downing Street on Thursday lunchtime as the Prime Minster sought to calm fears over the so-called ‘backstop’ in the [...]
TfL has the worst gender pay gap of all of City Hall’s agencies, new data reveals January 3, 2019 The gender pay gap at Transport for London (TfL) grew to 21.5 per cent last year – the only City Hall body to have seen an increase in the difference between men and women’s average hourly earnings. Last year the gender pay gap at TfL, which is chaired by London mayor Sadiq Khan, increased by 1.8 [...]
Saudi prosecutor demands death penalty for five suspects in Khashoggi case, reports state news agency January 3, 2019 A prosecutor in Saudi Arabia has called for the death penalty for five of the 11 suspects held in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October. The demand came during the first court hearing over the Washington Post journalist’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year, according to state-run Saudi [...]
David Davis: May should postpone parliament’s Brexit vote again to stoke no deal fears January 3, 2019 Former Brexit secretary David Davis believes Theresa May should delay parliament’s vote on her Brexit deal for a second time in order to push Britain closer to a no-deal scenario, and to pile pressure onto MPs and the EU. Parliament was originally due to vote on May’s deal on 11 December, but the Prime Minister [...]
DEBATE: Will this year be as politically tumultuous as the last? January 3, 2019 Will this year be as politically tumultuous as the last? Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies and author of The Great Acceleration, says YES. Sorry to puncture the New Year cheer, but the turmoil of 2018 wasn’t a one-off – in fact, it’s the new normal. The parliamentary situation, with the Tories supported [...]
From Brexit to tariffs, brace yourself for an uncertain 2019 January 3, 2019 Get ready for a 2019 full of uncertainty. On the political scene, headline events range from Brexit to the US-China trade tensions to EU reforms – all coming at a vulnerable stage in the business cycle, with half of US chief financial officers expecting a recession in 2019, and over 80 per cent by 2020. [...]
Sajid Javid suggests those risking English Channel crossing are not ‘genuine’ refugees January 2, 2019 Home secretary Sajid Javid has questioned whether people who cross the English Channel to claim asylum in the UK are "genuine" refugees. Javid, who met Border Force guards during a visit to Dover, urged people not to risk their lives by making the journey from France and suggested that those who were tracked by the UK authorities [...]
Theresa May will ‘find a way’ to get her Brexit deal through parliament, says Jeremy Hunt January 2, 2019 Theresa May will "find a way" to get her Brexit deal through parliament, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said. In Singapore today the foreign secretary said May would be able to get her deal through the Commons once she has come back with "reassurances" from the EU on the Irish backstop that has prevented many MPs from [...]