Italian senate signs off on 2017 budget, clearing the way for PM Renzi to resign December 7, 2016 Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will hand in his resignation today at 6pm London time, it has been reported, after the country's parliament approved Italy's 2017 budget. Renzi was earlier in the week asked to stay on until after the budget was passed by Italy's president Sergio Mattarella. The 41-year-old Italian premier promised to quit [...]
Theresa May’s Brexit plan must include Single Market objectives, say Labour December 7, 2016 Labour is laying out the characteristics of a Brexit plan in the House of Commons, calling on the government to reveal its hopes for Single Market status. MPs are debating a motion in parliament today calling on the government to reveal its plans for negotiations with the EU, and the government has lent its support [...]
Donald Trump has beaten Nigel Farage to be named Time magazine’s Person of the Year December 7, 2016 Donald Trump has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year -the person deemed to have "most influenced the year’s news, for better or worse". The US President-elect snatched the top spot ahead of his buddy from this side of the pond, Nigel Farage, who also made the shortlist this year, for having "[positioned] the referendum [...]
The SNP and the Lib Dems won’t back Theresa May’s Brexit amendment today December 7, 2016 More than 60 MPs are set to fight an amended motion backing the government's timetable for Brexit later today. The Lib Dems and the Scottish National Party have both said they will reject the motion in the House of Commons, which calls on the government to publish a Brexit plan ahead of the triggering of [...]
Leaked rail letter: Grayling said he wanted suburban rail “out of the clutches” of Labour December 7, 2016 The transport secretary has been criticised for "political point scoring" and faced calls to resign, after a leaked letter said he wanted to "keep suburban rail services out of the clutches of any future Labour mayor". Yesterday Chris Grayling rejected Sadiq Khan's bid to take over commuter routes, saying the mayor hadn't proved his alternative would [...]
The Liberal Democrats have been hit with the largest possible penalty over 2015 election spending December 7, 2016 The Liberal Democrats have been hit with a £20,000 fine by the UK's election watchdog. The fine is the maximum possible penalty the Electoral Commission can issue, with the watchdog claiming that more than 300 payments totaling £184,676 were excluded from party spending returns. The Lib Dems suffered from “systemic failures” during last year's General [...]
A man has been arrested for making racist threats against Gina Miller December 7, 2016 A 55-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of making threats against anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, it has been reported. The Metropolitan Police said officers from its Falcon Unit arrested the man after detectives were made aware of threats made against a 51-year-old woman from 3 November. Read more: Gina Miller condemns "disgraceful" media coverage [...]
SoftBank shares surge after chief exec announces $50bn US investment with President-elect Trump December 7, 2016 US President-elect Donald Trump and Masayoshi Son, chief executive of SoftBank, announced today that Son would invest $50bn (£39.5bn) in the US and create 50,000 new jobs. SoftBank's shares soared 6.2 per cent, helping push Japan's Nikkei up 0.7 per cent, Reuters reported. In the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Son said his telecommunications and tech [...]
One more step along the road to Brexit December 7, 2016 The Great Brexit dance continues. Yesterday, the Labour party rediscovered its opposition role and bounced the government into accepting demands that it set out its Brexit plans to parliament. Fearing that dozens of Remain-backing Tory MPs would support the Labour motion, No 10 agreed to go along with it. The shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer [...]
A small band of Remain useful idiots wrongly thinks Brexit won’t happen December 7, 2016 We have a problem. An odd little group of people – who make up with fervour and confidence what they might lack in numbers and logic – is presently touring the world of the commentariat. Unlike most Remain campaigners, principled and reasonable people able to accept a decision contrary to their will and move on, [...]