Healthcare: Could the private sector help Keir Starmer cut NHS waiting lists? January 6, 2025 Plans for a “new agreement” to more closely link the NHS and the private healthcare sector have been unveiled today in a bid to slash waiting lists for patients. The National Health Service (NHS) and the independent sector have struck a new deal which ministers say will improve patient choice as part of plans to [...]
Group hits Shein with labour abuse dossier ahead of Select Committee January 6, 2025 Shein has been provided with a dossier of evidence alleging supply chain abuses ahead of its appearance before a Select Committee on Tuesday.
Tulip Siddiq: City minister referred herself to watchdog over property questions January 6, 2025 Tulip Siddiq has referred herself to the government’s standards watchdog over questions about her use of properties linked to the deposed Bangladeshi leader, Keir Starmer said. The City minister has come under increasing pressure after it emerged she had been given a London flat and lived in another property with links to her aunt, former [...]
Reform UK chair says 46,000 members joined in last half of December January 4, 2025 More than 46,000 people joined Reform UK in the last two weeks of December, the party chairman told supporters amid a spat with the Tories over membership numbers. Zia Yusuf asked party members at a Reform UK conference in Chelmsford, Essex – part of Kemi Badenoch’s North West Essex constituency – to give a “big [...]
Tulip Siddiq reportedly given London flat linked to deposed Bangladeshi leader January 4, 2025 City minister Tulip Siddiq was reportedly given a London flat by a person with links to the deposed Bangladeshi leader. Siddiq, who serves as economic secretary to the Treasury with a brief including “countering economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance” was reported to have been given the two-bedroom property near King’s Cross in 2004, [...]
Reform UK supporters to gather in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency as ‘gloves off’ January 4, 2025 Reform supporters will gather in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency on Saturday, after their leader promised “the gloves are off” in the next election bout against her. Nigel Farage will host a Reform UK rally at Chelmsford City Racecourse, his second this year after a similar event in Leicester. The MPs – who both represent areas of [...]
Why we don’t know how much a ‘National Care Service’ could cost UK January 3, 2025 Health secretary Wes Streeting has unveiled the government’s latest move towards reform of the UK’s social care system. Taking the form of an independent commission into the issue, led by Baroness Louise Casey, the review – reporting in 2026 and 2028 – will aim to build “cross-party consensus” for the creation of a new National [...]
Firms hiring low-wage workers set for tax bill hike, CPS think tank warns January 3, 2025 The cost of employing low-wage workers is set to hit a record high in 2025, according to new analysis. Businesses employing low-wage workers will see their tax bills soar, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has warned, after research found the rise in employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) led to a 60 per cent tax [...]
Met Police fail to solve 90 per cent of London car thefts, figures reveal January 3, 2025 The Met Police have failed to solve 90 per cent of car thefts in London, according to new figures branded as “staggeringly high”. Data released by the Home Office showed the capital’s police force categorised 90.2 per cent of car thefts that took place in the four months to June 2024 as “unsolved cases”. The [...]
Rail strikes: Warning of ‘irreparable fallout’ from train walkouts January 2, 2025 The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has warned of the “irreparable fallout” from the ongoing round of Avanti West Coast rail strikes. Passengers faced disruption after rail managers who are members of the RMT union voted to strike on 31 December and 2 January, with disruption on routes to Glasgow, North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh. [...]