MPs’ Magnitsky amendment to criminal finances bill would see abusers’ assets frozen in the UK December 5, 2016 New powers to freeze the UK assets of those suspected of abusing human rights have received the backing of a cross-party group of influential MPs ahead of a parliamentary vote on the latest anti-corruption legislation. The MPs, led by Dominic Raab, conservative MP for Esher & Walton, have tabled an amendment for the asset freezing [...]
Article 50 rematch: Government heads to top court with revamped Brexit argument December 5, 2016 All eyes will be on the Supreme Court today as the attorney general doubles-down on the government's claim that the Prime Minister does not need parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50. Jeremy Wright will be the first to put forward arguments in the four-day hearing, while lawyers for pro-parliament activists who won their argument at the [...]
Austrian election: Independent Van der Bellen victorious as far-right’s Hofer concedes defeat December 4, 2016 Austrian independent candidate and former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen has won the country's presidential race after far-right candidate Norbert Hofer conceded defeat. Initial projections showed Van der Bellen with an unassailable lead of around 54 per cent to Hofer's 46 per cent. Herbert Kickl, Hofer's campaign manager told the state-backed broadcaster ORF: The bottom line [...]
Doubts are emerging over Tata’s long-term commitment to Port Talbot blast furnaces December 4, 2016 New concerns are emerging over Tata's commitment to maintaining two blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steelworks. The Indian conglomerate is expected to commit to the long-term future of the site within weeks, but with one furnace in need of relining, observers are concerned Tata will only implement a short-term fix. The furnace is due [...]
Trump just tweetstormed a 35pc tax on businesses moving jobs away from US December 4, 2016 Donald Trump has warned US companies that they can not move production out of the US and then sell goods back to the country without "retribution or consequence" as he threatened to impose a 35 per cent tax on any companies that do. The President-elect tweeted that he would impose a "35 per cent tax [...]
New Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is mulling a bid to snatch Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester constituency next year December 4, 2016 Newly-elected Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is mulling a bid for the constituency of Labour's Andy Burnham in an effort to enter the House of Commons. Burnham is due to step down as a Leigh MP next year to fight for the mayoralty of Greater Manchester, and Nuttall is considering a battle to steal the seat from [...]
The comeback Clegg? Ex-Lib Dem leader is confident of party’s return December 4, 2016 Riding high on his party winning the Richmond Park by-election, former Liberal Democrat leader and deputy PM Nick Clegg has expressed his confidence that it is recovering from nearly being wiped out at last year's disastrous General Election. "It's in many different parts of the country where the Liberal Democrat fortunes appear – appear – to [...]
Boris Johnson has set up a clash with Theresa May over students and migration numbers December 4, 2016 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has publicly rejected the government's policies on migration numbers, specifically the inclusion of student numbers. Only in October, Downing Street stressed that there is no review of the current plan – which sees students included in net migration sums. That was a reaction to comments from chancellor Philip Hammond, who had [...]
Top Tory MPs warn hard Brexit could cost party the next election December 4, 2016 A group of senior Conservative MPs have warned that the party risks losing the next election if it goes for a hard Brexit, urging the Prime Minister Theresa May to publish the government's plans for negotiations. The warning comes after the surprise result in the Richmond by-election where the Lib Dem's overturned a Tory majority "with [...]
Nigel Farage has said he’ll do whatever he can “formally or informally” to improve UK-US relations December 3, 2016 Nigel Farage may have been thwarted in becoming UK's ambassador to the US, but he's still ready and waiting to help out Donald Trump. Ministers quite quickly poured cold water on Donald Trump's unconventional call on Twitter for the former Ukip leader to be appointed UK ambassador to the US last month, saying there was no vacancy and [...]