In her first cabinet meeting, Theresa May has revealed plans to create three new cabinet committees to work on the pillars of her premiership July 19, 2016 Prime minister Theresa May is to chair three new cabinet committees in a bid to drive forward the central agenda of her premiership. In her first speech after succeeding David Cameron, May said that she would dedicate herself to fighting “burning injustices” while in office. And chairing her first cabinet meeting today, she told ministers [...]
Donald Trump odds shorten after vote against him fails at Cleveland convention, despite embarrassing speech by wife Melania July 19, 2016 In spite of a quite embarrassing speech given by Melania Trump yesterday, her husband Donald is looking marginally more likely to take the White House, according to one bookmaker. Betway has cut the odds on Trump from 9/4 to 2/1, pushing Clinton out from 1/3 to 2/5. She remains the clear favourite to win the presidency and take the [...]
IMF revises growth forecasts downwards and says global outlook has worsened after Brexit vote July 19, 2016 The UK's vote for Brexit has added "significant uncertainty to an already fragile global recovery", the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) today – as it warned that Britain could potentially go into recession if negotiations with the EU do not proceed smoothly. The IMF said the result of the EU [...]
Article 50 won’t be invoked this year July 19, 2016 The official signal of Britain leaving the EU will not be given this year, the government has said. Article 50 will not be triggered in 2016, lawyers acting on behalf of the government told the high court this morning at the start of a legal battle over the matter. Read more: Why lawyers are in [...]
Scottish politicians to visit Brussels in effort to explore options for Scottish links to EU July 19, 2016 Scottish politicians are to begin conversations in Brussels to explore options for how the nation can maintain its place in the EU after the Brexit vote. A cross-party group of MSPs will today meet diplomats from the European Free Trade Association, as well as Ireland and other nations, in Brussels. The trip has been descried by Joan McAlpine, convener [...]
“Snoopers’ Charter” data collection rules ok if proportionate, says European court July 19, 2016 A UK law requiring companies to keep up to a years worth of data on people's emails, phone calls and web activities is okay – as long as it "satisfies strict requirements" – according to a preliminary ruling from the European courts . The legal case, which has implications for the future legislation on monitoring communications, was brought by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson and [...]
Labour leadership race: Jeremy Corbyn poised to thrash either Angela Eagle or Owen Smith, according to poll July 19, 2016 Despite the splits and divisions in the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn seems to be somewhat enjoying himself of late; he's even started cracking jokes at Prime Minister's Questions. Perhaps it's because he's confident he'll thump either Angela Eagle or Owen Smith in a one-on-one election. He wouldn't be wrong, according to the latest polling. YouGov [...]
William Hague’s 10 step guide to being foreign secretary for Boris Johnson July 19, 2016 A Tory grandee and an often cited great parliamentarian, former foreign secretary (and Conservative leader) William Hague has some advice for his (once removed) successor. Johnson has already had to deal with fallout from Nice and Turkey, while having met many foreign counterparts in fairly tricky waters, given the post-Brexit vote context of conversations. So, kindly, [...]
Quiz: Who said it? Miliband or Tory? Time to play our new game July 19, 2016 Let's play a game – it’s called Miliband or Tory. We’ll give you a quotation and you have to guess who said it: former Labour leader Ed Miliband or a member of the current Conservative government. Here goes…. [quiz id="33"] Westminster commentators have noticed the stark similarity in rhetoric between Miliband and the new Tory [...]
Shot in the Arm for the City as £24bn mega-deal is agreed July 19, 2016 British tech giant Arm Holdings yesterday agreed to a £24.3bn takeover by telecoms group Softbank, in a move that would go down as the second largest outbound Japanese deal on record. Softbank has pounced for the Cambridge-based chip-maker following a sharp drop in the value of the pound, largely prompted by last month’s vote to leave [...]