French prime minister Manuel Valls announces he will run for president against Marine Le Pen and Francois Fillon in next year’s election December 5, 2016 France's socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, has announced he will stand in next year's presidential election. The 54-year-old said he wanted to "give everything to France" as he launched his campaign. He added that he "cannot be prime minister while being a candidate" and that he will resign from the government on Tuesday. https://twitter.com/manuelvalls/status/805827675482951680 Read more: [...]
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is demanding a Brexit truce and attacking “braying” Ukip politicians December 5, 2016 Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is to call for a Brexit truce, warning both sides of the EU debate to cease accusations of “racism” and “remoaning”. Speaking at the Institute of Directors tonight, Davidson will tell both Levers and Remainers to “grow up” and heal the divides of the summer's referendum. And she will also [...]
From Italy and Brexit to Trump, don’t blame every electoral upset on “populism” December 5, 2016 In a world characterised by steadily decreasing attention spans and rampantly rising information onslaughts, the temptation to simplify just to keep on top of the newsflow is immense. The risk, of course, being that critical nuances are disregarded and inaccurate conclusions are drawn before being flung around on social media and becoming alleged “fact” in a [...]
Here’s what protesters outside the Supreme Court during the Article 50 hearing had to say December 5, 2016 The Supreme Court hearing on how the government will trigger Article 50 began today. Outside the building, a group of about 20 to 30 protesters gathered to speak out, dance an Irish jig or wave their Union Jacks. Standing out in support of Brexit meaning Brexit was Catherine Cook, who travelled down from Newcastle to show her anger with Parliament. Ticking the box and leaving [...]
Article 50 hearing: Parliament had plenty of chances to ask for Brexit trigger legislation, says attorney general December 5, 2016 Parliament had the opportunity to push for legislation to be put in place to trigger Article 50, but choose not to, the attorney general has told the Supreme Court. On the first day of what is due to be a four-day hearing, Jeremy Wright argued the government's wish to start the UK's formal withdrawal procedure from the EU [...]
The euro makes back losses from pound and dollar as markets react to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation December 5, 2016 The euro regained its steep losses against the pound and the dollar as the week started with the defeat of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in his flagship constitutional reform and his immediate resignation. The pound rose above €1.20 in the early hours of Monday morning before falling back to €1.1899 at the time of publication. [...]
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key unexpectedly steps down to focus on his family December 5, 2016 New Zealand Prime Minister John Key unexpectedly announced his resignation today after eight years in power. Key was partway through a third three-year term marked by political stability and economic reform after the global financial crisis when he told reporters he would step down to focus on family, Reuters reported. Deputy prime minister and finance [...]
The immigration debate needs liberal voices December 5, 2016 The debate over immigration would continue to rage even if the UK had voted to remain in the EU. Indeed, with fresh figures showing that non-EU migrants made up the bulk of recent arrivals, one could argue it would rage all the harder if we hadn’t voted to ‘take back control’. But with splits emerging in [...]
Tony Blair and Nick Clegg risk damaging British business by seeking to block Brexit December 5, 2016 As a businessman and a proud Brexiteer – I was treasurer and board member of the Vote Leave campaign – I am convinced that Britain’s best days lie ahead. But we need to be ambitious. If we are, and if we seize this Brexit opportunity together, Britain can change for the better. My online financial trading business, [...]
Following a year of major political change, will 2016 be regarded as a turning point in history? December 5, 2016 Ruth Lea, economic adviser at Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. I have little doubt that 2016 will go down as a major turning point in British history, as indeed was 1973 when we joined the European Communities. Then Britain, racked by post-colonial self-doubt, chose to join Europe’s political project of “ever closer union”, with all [...]