Arise, Sir Mo? There will be no formal cap on awards for Britain’s Olympic heroes in the New Years Honours list, Downing St has confirmed August 22, 2016 Britain's triumphant athletes look set to be handed a range of honours in the new year, after Downing Street confirmed there are no formal limits on the number of prizes that could be handed out. The Cabinet Office provides guidance on numbers, but a spokeswoman for Theresa May today said that could even be over-ruled [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised to scrap the House of Lords as the Labour leadership contest enters its final stages August 22, 2016 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to scrap the appointed House of Lords as the party's leadership contest enters its final furlongs. Ballots for the leadership election will be sent out from today, with the party expected to announce its leader in a special conference on 24 September. This weekend London mayor Sadiq Khan waded back into [...]
Hate crimes on Britain’s railway climbed by 57 per cent in the weeks after the UK’s Brexit vote, according to new figures August 22, 2016 Suspected race hate crimes on Britain’s railways surged in the aftermath of Britain's EU referendum, new figures have revealed. British Transport Police recorded 119 incidents, including allegations of racist abuse and attacks at stations, according to statistics obtained by the Press Association. The figure – equivalent to eight incidents every day between June 24 and July [...]
As members prepare to vote in its leadership contest, will Labour remain toxic for a generation? August 22, 2016 Chris Rumfitt, founder and chief executive of Field Consulting, says Yes. In politics, mud sticks. It took Labour 20 years to shake off the memory of the winter of discontent. And the Tories’ “nasty party” image still follows them like a bad smell long after Theresa May coined the phrase. Even if Jeremy Corbyn went tomorrow, [...]
Recession risks fade on upbeat post-referendum data August 21, 2016 Economists believe the chances of the UK economy slipping into a post-referendum recession have slipped, following a steady stream of upbeat economic data. Figures out early last week, compiled before a raft of bumper employment and retail sales statistics had been released, showed the consensus estimate for the UK economy was a 1.6 per cent [...]
Britons overwhelmingly back giving EU migrants right to stay in UK August 21, 2016 The public overwhelmingly supports granting EU migrants currently living in the UK permission to stay after the UK formally leaves the bloc, a new poll has found. In a survey for think tank British Future, pollsters ICM found 84 per cent of people backed giving the three million EU citizens in the UK the right to stay [...]
Trump spent nearly half a million dollars on hats (and nothing on TV ads) August 21, 2016 Can hats win elections? One man certainly thinks so. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has spent almost half a million dollars on hats to promote his bid for the White House, new campaign spending records reveal. Of the $18.5m cash Trump splashed on campaigning in July, more than $420,000 went on hats, featuring now-famous slogans such as [...]
Mayor of London tells Labour to ditch Corbyn August 21, 2016 The Mayor of London has finally revealed who he will back in the Labour leadership contest – and it's bad new for Jeremy Corbyn, losing out on support from the most high-profile elected politician in the party. Sadiq Khan has publicly endorsed Owen Smith in the race to lead the party after previously nominating Corbyn for the position, but [...]
This MP wants Brexit ASAP August 21, 2016 Brexit negotiations should begin immediately and not be put on hold for elections in Europe, due to be held next year, the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said. The MP said "we need to get on with triggering Article 50, as the government has said, in early 2017," or risk a "neverendum". Article 50 [...]
Australia has confirmed that it will block the sale of its largest energy grid to Chinese investors August 20, 2016 Australia has moved to formally block the sale of its biggest energy grid to Chinese investors over security concerns. The sale was put on hold last week, and now the deal has been officially nixed by Australian treasurer Scott Morrison. Two Chinese firms had been in talks to buy a 50.4 per cent stake in Ausgrid. However, [...]