DEBATE: Has John Bercow damaged the reputation of the office of speaker with his actions this week? January 11, 2019 Has John Bercow damaged the reputation of the office of speaker with his actions this week? Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, says YES. Naturally, most people aren’t interested in parliamentary procedure. They are in favour of a position when it aligns with their views, and against it when it doesn’t. But rather than viewing John Bercow’s [...]
Christmas shoppers shunned the high street, but attacking Amazon won’t help January 11, 2019 Between the fierce renewal of the Brexit saga, parliamentary shenanigans, and a particularly chilling cold front (interpret that literally or metaphorically, as you will), the merriness of Christmas feels like a thing of the past. But for the high street, it feels like Christmas never came at all. Reports of retail sales, released yesterday by [...]
Government rules out new regulations to stop a repeat of RBS SME debacle January 11, 2019 Ministers are burying their heads in the sand by refusing to regulate loans to small and medium size businesses, according to Treasury Select Chair Nicky Morgan. The former financial secretary to the Treasury launched a scathing attack on the government after it refused to back proposals from her committee intended to protect SMEs. A report [...]
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe says the ‘whole world’ wants to avoid a ‘no deal’ Brexit January 10, 2019 The “whole world” wants to see a ‘no deal’ Brexit avoided, according the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Flanking Theresa May at a press conference in Downing Street on Thursday evening, Abe dialled up the pressure on MPs planning to vote down the Brexit agreement. Around 1,000 companies in the UK are funded with Japanese [...]
City of London Corporation votes in favour of revoking Aung San Suu Kyi honorary freedom award January 10, 2019 City of London Corporation councillors have voted in favour of removing the honorary freedom award granted to Aung San Suu Kyi over her failure to condemn atrocities committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Today the Corporation's prime legislative body, the court of common council, voted in favour of a motion proposed by Portsoken councillor Munsur Ali that would [...]
Nike’s Dutch tax status to be investigated by European Commission January 10, 2019 The European Commission has opened a detailed probe into whether Nike has received an unfair advantage over its competitors by being granted a favourable tax environment in the Netherlands. The Commission said the Netherlands issued five tax rulings since 2006, two of which are still active, which endorsed a method of calculating royalty payments that "may not reflect [...]
Theresa May’s Brexit deal threatens the UK’s national security, warns former spy chief January 10, 2019 Theresa May’s Brexit deal will “threaten the national security of this country in fundamental ways”, the former head of MI6 and ex-Chief of Defence Staff have warned in a letter to grassroots Tories. Sir Richard Dearlove and Lord Guthrie claims the withdrawal agreement will put aspects of UK security “in foreign hands” in a devastating letter [...]
Google should be allowed to limit ‘right to be forgotten’, says EU court January 10, 2019 Search engines such as Google should be allowed to limit user requests to delete outdated or irrelevant search results to just those existing within the European Union, a preliminary opinion in the European Court of Justice found today. Established in 2014, the so-called right to be forgotten requires Google and others in Europe to accept and review [...]
Tesco works on stockpiling arrangements in Brexit contingency plans January 10, 2019 Tesco is making arrangements to stockpile goods as part of the supermarket’s Brexit contingency planning, the UK's biggest supermarket confirmed today. The UK’s biggest retailer is working with suppliers to devise plans to hold stock closer to the market, and said that sensible contingency plans are in place. Read more: Tesco sees like-for-like sales boost in [...]
Jeremy Corbyn: Labour would consider delaying Brexit if it was in power January 10, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn today suggested a Labour government would look to delay Brexit to allow time for further negotiations with Brussels. Speaking in Wakefield, the Labour leader said if his party were in power before March 29 – when the UK is set to leave the EU – there would need to be time to reopen [...]