Oxford Street: Mayor wants ideas on pedestrianising iconic shopping area February 28, 2025 Sadiq Khan is asking Londoners for their ideas on pedestrianising Oxford Street in a bid to transform the iconic shopping district into a “world-class, accessible, clean, avenue”. The Mayor today launched a public consultation on the proposed transformation of the central London road which will run until 2 May 2025. Sir Sadiq is proposing to [...]
Trump-Starmer: UK may dodge tariffs as work to begin on new US trade deal February 27, 2025 The UK could be set to dodge US tariffs with work to begin on a new US-UK trade deal, it was revealed during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister flew to the States yesterday for a highly anticipated first meeting with President Trump since he reentered the White House [...]
Trump-Starmer meeting: Five things to look out for February 27, 2025 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to meet Donald Trump this evening for the first time since the US President re-entered the White House in January. Thanks to the US-UK so-called ‘special relationship’, meetings between the two nations’ leaders always have resonance. But amid the current international context, including Trump’s own comments about Russia’s [...]
Gatwick expansion raises questions over Heathrow third runway, Khan says February 27, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan has said the government’s pathway towards approving plans for use of a second runway at Gatwick “begs the question” over the need for a third runway at Heathrow. The mayor of London made the comments following the launch of his London Growth Plan at Imperial College this morning which sets out how [...]
Starmer under US pressure to reject Chinese “super-embassy” in London February 27, 2025 Two senior figures in US-China relations in Congress have called on Lord Mandelson to block the development of a huge 700,000 square foot Chinese ‘super-embassy’ in the heart of London – in a fresh diplomatic headache for Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his crucial meeting with President Trump. Reps John Moolenaar and Chris Smith, in [...]
Growth plan: Sadiq Khan wants to boost London economy by £100bn February 27, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan unveiled his plan to “turbocharge” London’s economy, claiming it could boost the capital’s coffers by £107bn by 2035. The mayor unveiled what he’s called the London Growth Plan at Imperial College London’s campus, in a speech to council leaders, businesses and media. Sir Sadiq’s plan for the capital aims to put an [...]
Week in Business: Will more defence spending mean higher taxes? February 27, 2025 Cutting the international aid budget to boost defence spending – sounds like a fair exchange in a time of war and hazard – but there’s more to this announcement than meets the eye. The Prime Minister was deadly serious when he stood up in the Commons this week to declare that the country faces a [...]
Is Kemi Badenoch up for the fight? February 27, 2025 What is Kemi Badenoch for? If you’re now asking yourself “who’s Kemi Badenoch?” then she really is in trouble. In the four months since being elected leader of the Conservative Party, she has attempted to make a virtue out of vagueness. She explains, not unreasonably, that her party has to reflect on what went wrong [...]
Donald Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on EU imports February 26, 2025 Donald Trump has announced he plans to slap 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the European Union (EU) into the US. The US President slammed the European trading bloc, claiming it was set up to “screw” America, and had “done a good job of it but now I am President”. His comments came as [...]
PMQs: Starmer won’t confirm if Chagos deal money included in defence rise February 26, 2025 Keir Starmer has declined to confirm whether money spent on the Chagos Islands deal will be included in the rise in defence spending. The UK is in talks with Mauritius about handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory but leasing back the strategic Diego Garcia military base, which the US uses. The Prime [...]