Theresa May backs down over plans for a Brexit white paper January 25, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed plans to publish a Brexit white paper, just over 24 hours after the Supreme Court ruled that she must gain the approval of parliament to trigger Article 50. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions today, May said she recognised an "appetite" among her own MPs for the paper, citing questions [...]
Savers are taking more and more small payments from their pensions January 25, 2017 New data from HMRC shows savers are taking more regular, and smaller, lump sums from their pensions. Former chancellor George Osborne introduced the pensions freedom regime in 2015, allowing savers to take up to a quarter of their retirement savings as a lump sum without paying tax. And HMRC says that £9.2bn has been taken [...]
George Orwell’s 1984 has shot to the top of bestseller lists because Trump January 25, 2017 George Orwell's 1984 may be a perennial classic, but it's been a long time since it was at the top of bestseller lists. Until now, that is… The novel, first published in 1949, has shot to the top of Amazon's best sellers list – with its rise attributed by many to the Trump administration's use [...]
Cameron’s new job: Former British PM appointed president of Alzheimer’s Research UK January 25, 2017 What former British Prime Minister David Cameron is doing now is a topic of national interest. Las year, he reportedly earned £120,000 for a speech in New York and also signed a deal with Harper Collins to write his memoirs. An today it has been announced the former Tory leader has been appointed the president of Alzheimer’s Research [...]
Donald Trump plans “big day” for national security including setting the foundations for Mexico border wall January 25, 2017 The President has said a "big day" is planned on national security – and that includes an update on the proposed wall on the border between Mexico and the US. Donald Trump tweeted: "Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will [...]
Now is the time for new coalitions in the Brexit debate January 25, 2017 We live in topsy-turvy times. Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping recently emerged as the world’s unlikely flag-bearer for global capitalism, telling dignitaries in Davos: “Pursuing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room: wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air.” Xi’s pleasingly poetic and [...]
Breaking EU up will take time to do: Brexit will go on for years January 25, 2017 As expected, the Supreme Court has told the Prime Minister that she needs to get the authority of Parliament before moving forward to remove the rights of EU citizenship from the British people in line with the referendum result. She should have done this from day one. Even the most devoted of Theresa May’s fans [...]
The NHS will never have enough cash: Our national religion needs a reformation January 25, 2017 We British like traditions. A well-established one which comes round every year is the “winter crisis” in the NHS. Health provision is a political hot potato not just for this government, or indeed for any particular UK government, but for governments across the developed world. One of the key assumptions made by economists about human behaviour [...]
With the Supreme Court ruling there is no need to consult Scotland on Article 50, are we at Peak SNP? January 25, 2017 Brian Monteith, a director at Global Britain, says Yes. Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision is the latest of many setbacks since Peak SNP was reached in 2015’s General Election. It has been downhill ever since with only the Labour Party’s worse decline giving the appearance of a buoyant SNP. Nicola Sturgeon lost her overall majority in [...]
US labelled a “flawed” democracy over collapsing public trust January 25, 2017 The US has been branded a “flawed democracy” thanks to crumbling confidence in its government and institutions. Experts behind the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual Democracy Index rank the governance of countries worldwide, but have this morning cut the status of the American system for 2016. Previously a part of the top level “full” democracy group, [...]