“Our aim certainly is not to punish the UK,” insists Brussels’ financial services commissioner February 8, 2017 Politicians tend to seek the limelight. They court media interest with controversial policy ideas, catchy soundbites and displays of tribal affiliation. But it's people like Valdis Dombrovskis, quiet bureaucrats who do their best to keep beneath the radar and get their job done, who exercise a hidden power. This is particularly true of the European [...]
Top EU envoy Valdis Dombrovskis jets into town for talks with chancellor and City chiefs February 8, 2017 One of the EU's top commissioners jets into London this morning for a whirlwind pre-Brexit tour of the capital, telling City A.M. that a future deal on financial services must "work for all". Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president in charge of financial services, said the European Commission would not set out to “punish” the UK during [...]
From whips to shadow ministers: All the Labour MPs who voted against the government’s Brexit Bill February 8, 2017 Five extra Labour MPs rebelled at the third reading of the government's Article 50 Bill, but they weren't enough to stop the House of Commons overwhelmingly voting in favour of giving Theresa May the power to trigger Article 50. Geraint Davies, Kate Green, Clive Lewis (who resigned from the frontbench today), Alison McGovern and Chi [...]
MPs give final approval to Theresa May’s Brexit Bill to kick off the process of leaving the European Union February 8, 2017 The House of Commons has voted to approve the unamended Article 50 Bill in a historic night in Westminster. MPs voted 494 to 122 in favour of the Bill being passed on for scrutiny in the House of Lords. Labour and Conservative MPs were under strict orders to back the Article 50 Bill, although both [...]
Labour shadow business secretary Clive Lewis quits frontbench to vote against Article 50 Bill February 8, 2017 Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis MP has announced his resignation from the Labour shadow cabinet, saying he could not back the government's Brexit Bill. He said: “When I became the MP for Norwich South, I promised my constituents I would be ‘Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich’. I therefore cannot, in all good conscience, [...]
HS2 faces questions over the hiring of its new chief executive and concerns of a “revolving door” to a contractor February 8, 2017 High Speed 2 bosses face questions over the appointment of their chief executive just days before MPs sign off on the first stage of the project. Phase one of HS2 is expected to be greenlit within days of parliament’s return from recess on 20 February. The project recruited Mark Thurston to serve as its new chief [...]
Trump’s likely EU ambassador escalates his war of words with Europe February 8, 2017 Donald Trump's likely ambassador to the European Union has bemoaned "anti-Americanism" on the continent, after EU politicians attacked his potential appointment. Last week saw the leaders of the socialist, liberal and conservative European parliament groups attacking Dr Ted Malloch, accusing him of "outrageous malevolence" for comments in which he said the EU needed "taming". And now [...]
Sadiq Khan is going on a European tour next month February 8, 2017 London mayor Sadiq Khan is to embark on a European tour to promote the capital as the government approaches the formal launch of Brexit talks. Khan will visit five major capitals over six days to push the “London is Open” campaign, and boost ties with European politicians and business leaders. As well as visiting Paris, Berlin, Madrid [...]
Brexit has humiliated Britain’s failed economic soothsayers February 8, 2017 The Trojan prophetess, Cassandra, was given powers of foresight by Apollo, the Greek god of culture, in a bid to seduce her. She refused him and, as one version of the legend goes, he spat into her mouth to inflict a curse that no one would ever believe what she said. She prophesied doom and [...]
Punish HMRC for arbitrarily bullying the victims of our complex tax code February 8, 2017 A good rule of thumb for a system or process: if you sat down and designed it from scratch, would it look like it does now? Ask that question of the tax system and the answer, of course, is a resounding “no”. It is a hideously complicated mess that punishes families and businesses, while destroying [...]