Former national intelligence director James Clapper says no order existed to tap Trump’s phones March 5, 2017 A former US national intelligence director has slammed Donald Trump's claims the Obama administration ordered a wiretap of phones at now-President's election campaign headquarters at Trump Tower in New York. James Clapper, who stood down from his role at the end of President Obama's tenure, told NBC: "There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the President-elect at the [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond expected to bank £12bn from borrowing outperformance in his first Budget March 5, 2017 Budget-day forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are expected to give chancellor Philip Hammond a boost in his efforts to hit his new fiscal targets. Borrowing could undershoot previous targets by as much as £12bn during the 2016-17 tax year, according to the OBR’s analysis of government borrowing figures up to January. [...]
City lobbyists to launch a fresh bid for “mutual recognition” between UK and EU financial regulators March 5, 2017 A major City lobby group is set to launch a fresh bid to win support for mutual regulatory recognition for the UK and the EU's finance businesses within weeks. TheCityUK is to double-down on calls for a bespoke deal on financial services based on a principle of mutual market access for firms on both sides of the [...]
Leading Brexiteers Michael Gove and Dominic Raab have joined calls for Downing Street to protect EU nationals’ rights March 5, 2017 The pressure is growing on Prime Minister Theresa May to guarantee the rights of EU nationals after a cross-party group of MPs, including some heavy hitter Brexiteers, called on Downing Street to act. The House of Lords last week passed an amendment to the Article 50 Bill including a unilateral offer to protect Europeans resident [...]
Bullish Hammond warns the UK will “fight back” if unable to secure a Brexit deal March 5, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned European member states the UK "has a fighting spirit" and will not "slink off as a wounded animal" if Brexit talks collapse. Prime Minister Theresa May will fire the starting gun on negotiations later this month, and Hammond today warned that Britain will do "whatever it takes" to remain competitive. [...]
Ed Balls is refusing to rule out a return to Westminster politics March 5, 2017 Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls is refusing to rule out a return to the world of Westminster politics, but the one-time Strictly Come Dancing contestant may not reappear for a little while. Speaking on Peston on Sunday, Balls said "never say never" when asked about whether he would seek to become an MP once again, [...]
Budget 2017: The government’s promised £500m to get young people into higher paying jobs in technical training shake-up March 5, 2017 The government is promising to invest £500m a year in technical training for young people to ensure they have the high level skills needed by businesses in the future, in a huge shake up designed to boost the country's productivity. The radical overhaul of post-16 education will see a dizzying array of 13,000 different qualifications whittled [...]
Now Trump has accused Obama of tapping phones at Trump Tower without giving evidence March 4, 2017 Donald Trump has gone on another Twitter tirade. Today, the US President is accusing former President Barack Obama of wire tapping his phones in Trump Tower during the later stages of the US election, but he gave no evidence to support the allegation. Trump tweeted: "This is McCarthyism!" and said he "just found out" Obama tapped his [...]
Sinn Fein celebrates an “amazing day” as it closes the gap on the DUP March 4, 2017 The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) held its title as Northern Ireland's biggest party after assembly election results were revealed last night, but Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein closed the gap after seeing its highest voter turnout since 1998. Just over 1,000 votes split the main parties in the closest ever assembly election – and voter turnout was at its highest [...]
Boris Johnson is traveling to Russia for “high-level” talks March 4, 2017 Foreign secretary Boris Johnson will travel to Moscow for "high-level" talks in the coming weeks, making him the first minister to travel to Russia for a state visit in more than five years. The talks will focus on UK-Russia relations and international issues like Syria and Ukraine where the two countries "continue to have significant differences", said a [...]