Theresa May announces Brexit vote will be held week beginning January 14 December 17, 2018 Theresa May's Brexit deal will finally be voted on by MPs in the week beginning January 14, the Prime Minister has confirmed. Speaking in the Commons on Monday afternoon, May announced the do-or-die date for her EU withdrawal agreement, having cancelled vote last week in the face of a huge defeat by her own party. [...]
City financier Edi Truell agrees to fund £500,000 to company to solve Irish border problem December 17, 2018 The question of the Irish border appears to have eluded many of our politicians, but one City financier has come up with his own solution. Edi Truell, co-founder of private equity and venture capital firm Disruptive Capital Finance, has said he is willing to stump up £500,000 to pay for a high-tech system for the Irish [...]
Jeremy Corbyn calls for vote of no confidence in Theresa May December 17, 2018 Jeremy Corbyn has called for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May, but pulled back from trying to force a general election. After an afternoon of confusion, the Labour leader announced he wanted a Commons vote because of the way May had handled the vote on her Brexit deal. The Prime Minister cancelled a [...]
Productivity lessons from the procrastinator Prime Minister December 17, 2018 Can we assume, given that you’re reading this section of the paper, that you are currently delaying doing something you really ought to be focusing on? I don’t mean to lecture you. I myself currently have an Oliver Spencer tab or two open on my browser. I spent most of last Wednesday Googling the viability [...]
The new Brexit Wars episode is out: May the force be with you December 17, 2018 Maybe it’s just me, but the Stormtroopers in the new Star Wars movies never seem to have the same menace as the old ones. Last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his colleagues in the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative party looked like they believed that they had gone old-school – Empire Strikes Back. [...]
Workers rights receive boost as government unveils new reforms package December 17, 2018 The government will today unveil a new package of workplace reforms in response to the Matthew Taylor review into working practices in the UK. Under the new legislative reforms, on their first day of a new job workers will receive a statement of rights for setting out their entitlements for annual leave and pay. The [...]
Will Tony Blair help or hinder the campaign for a second referendum? December 16, 2018 Of the four living former Prime Ministers, three are united in vocal and (to a varying degree) active opposition to current government policy. John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have taken very different approaches to life after Downing Street but what unites them now is support for a second referendum. Major has called for [...]
Theresa May attacks Tony Blair for ‘subverting’ Brexit process with call for a second vote December 16, 2018 Theresa May has launched a stinging attack on former Prime Minister Tony Blair, branding his efforts to bring about a second referendum an “insult to the office he once held”. The Prime Minister, who has endured a string of recent setbacks including defeats in parliament, a leadership challenge and a difficult trip to Brussels, accused her [...]
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt believes a version of Theresa May’s deal can get through parliament December 15, 2018 Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt believes that parliament could still back Theresa May's deal if the European Union provide assurances on it, but warned a no deal was still on the table. May pulled out of a vote on her Brexit deal at the start of the week, fearing a heavy defeat amid concerns over the [...]
Brexit: The EU referendum cost the taxpayer £129m to carry out December 14, 2018 The EU referendum in 2016 cost taxpayers £129.1m, the Electoral Commission has revealed. The UK's electoral watchdog said today that the biggest cost was administering the poll, which included the running of 40,000 polling stations, issuing postal votes and counting votes on the day, and totalled £94.5m. There were also statutory grants of £1.2m to both the [...]