DfT took Seaborne’s word that it had secure backing before awarding no-deal ferry contract, says top civil servant February 13, 2019 Britain’s top transport mandarin has said the government had been happy to take Seaborne Freight’s word that it had secured financial backers before the firm was awarded a £13.8m contract. Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary to the Department for Transport (DfT), said Seaborne was a “known quantity in the industry”. The DfT scrapped its contract with [...]
Theresa May defends due diligence into scrapped contract ferry firm Seaborne February 13, 2019 Theresa May has claimed proper due diligence was carried out in the government’s aborted ferry contract with Seaborne Freight despite consultants saying they could not assess its finances. Pressed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at prime minister’s questions today, May insisted “proper due diligence was carried out” in the procurement of a contract for ferrying [...]
Sadiq Khan to warn that leaving the single market will damage London ‘for decades to come’ February 13, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan will today warn that leaving the single market will damage London and the UK “for decades to come” as the exit date for leaving the bloc draws ever closer. Khan, a staunch Remainer, will say that leaving the single market and customs union would lead to a “lost decade” in which 87,000 [...]
Brexit minister denies that delaying Article 50 is government’s strategy February 13, 2019 Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has pushed back against claims that the UK faces a choice between Theresa May's withdrawal agreement or a delay to Brexit. Last night, ITV reported that the Prime Minister’s chief negotiator, Olly Robbins, said MPs would be forced into a last-minute choice between May’s deal or a delay to Article 50, in [...]
Good, old-fashioned economic growth is the key to happiness February 13, 2019 Newly installed as Prime Minister, a fresh-faced David Cameron declared in November 2010 that “the country would be better off if we thought about wellbeing as well as economic growth,” as he launched a £2bn plan to measure the UK’s happiness. Measuring wellbeing is no easy task. Just ask the Happy Planet Index, which in [...]
We are forgetting the vital art of constructive disagreement February 13, 2019 Disagreement is great. I wouldn’t blame you for disagreeing with me about that, especially right now, when politics is dominated by apparently intractable arguments that spill over into every aspect of our lives. But give me a minute to try and convince you. Without disagreement, nothing would ever change. Dissent from the status quo is a [...]
Don’t hold your breath for an easy fix to the US-China trade spat February 13, 2019 Towards the end of last year, my investment manager sent out a note predicting that the US-China trade spat would be resolved and that markets would rise as a result. I responded by saying that it was unlikely to happen, and that I personally preferred an investment portfolio that was very underweight in companies whose [...]
DEBATE: Should Theresa May push for a compromise with Labour to get her Brexit deal passed? February 13, 2019 Should Theresa May push for a compromise with Labour to get her Brexit deal passed? Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of London First, says YES. Theresa May’s primary goal must be to avoid leaving the EU with no deal. That means that the government must stop behaving as if it has a rock-solid parliamentary majority, and [...]
May to give MPs vote on Labour workers’ rights plans after Brexit February 12, 2019 Theresa May today pledged to give MPs the power to decide whether the UK should follow EU rules on workers’ rights after Brexit in a bid to win Labour support for her plan. Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister doubled down on her commitment to keep high standards relating to employment law, environmental protections and [...]
President Trump to meet Xi ‘very soon’ as markets hope for end to US-China trade war, Conway says February 12, 2019 President Donald Trump wants to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon in an effort to end the trade war that has raged between the US and China, according to an adviser. Kellyanne Conway, previously Trump's campaign manager and now counsellor to the White House, told Fox earlier this week that Trump “wants to meet with [...]