MPs reject Ashley’s Sports Direct warehouse visit demand May 26, 2016 An influential committee of MPs has declined a request from Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley to visit one of his warehouses. Ashley asked the Business Innovation and Skills committee to attend his Shirebrook warehouse as a precondition for his attendence to a Parliamentary hearing on 7 June. However, the MPs have rejected the suggestion, while [...]
French strikes spark confrontations between police and protestors May 26, 2016 Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, smoke bombs were thrown and arrests made amid protests over new labour laws by the French government. Their grievances centre on the government's proposed reforms to employment laws, which make it easier for firms to hire and fire. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said some tweaks could be [...]
Top Tory tackles Treasury over “propaganda” Brexit forecasts May 26, 2016 Former shadow home secretary David Davis has condemned the EU referendum's remain campaign, arguing that the Government is publishing “pure propaganda”. In a forthright intervention, Davis slammed Treasury claims that a vote to leave the EU would generate a recession, and that it would leave households worse off in the long run. Davis has long [...]
Latest figures show a gulf in donations between the EU referendum’s Leave and Remain camps May 26, 2016 Donations for Leave campaigners have again exceeded those for their peers in the Remain campaign in the latest figures from the Electoral Commission. Earlier this month, the election watchdog reported that almost £16m in donations to both camps had been recorded for the period between 1 February and 21 April, with the Leave camp raising [...]
Sajid Javid says Tata pension chiefs asked for controversial changes May 26, 2016 The government was asked to consider controversial changes to Tata's pensions by the scheme's own trustees, the business secretary has said. Sajid Javid said that the British Steel Pension Scheme has asked for changes that "[they"] believe … will move the scheme into surplus and make it stable." "This is very much about this scheme, and [...]
Khan: Remain campaign must make patriotic case for EU May 26, 2016 With four weeks until polling day, Sadiq Khan has made his first intervention into the EU referendum debate since becoming mayor of London, calling for a patriotic case to Remain. In a speech in the east London Tech City development, Khan admitted that the debate on EU membership had become too dominated by potential risks. [...]
Migration figures become latest political football in EU referendum May 26, 2016 David Cameron and the Remain camp could probably have done without this morning's immigration statistics – figures that are almost certain to be put centre stage during the last four weeks of the referendum campaign. The numbers, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed net migration was running at 330,000 in 2015, as a record number of [...]
Prime minister David Cameron warns of hit to pensions if Britain backs Brexit May 26, 2016 Prime minister David Cameron has warned retirees face a triple threat to their pension pots if Britain votes to leave the European Union. He said pension funds would shrink due to the economic shock from a leave vote, just as the fallout increased the cost living and changes to visa and residency rules led to a shortage of [...]
More than eight-in-ten local authorities will be in serious financial difficulty in the next three years, chief execs warn May 26, 2016 Local authorities are at risk of failing to deliver essential services in coming years, the government is being warned. PwC’s annual survey of local government leadership has shown that 81 per cent of local authority bosses believe that some will not deliver essential services within the next three years. Almost nine-in-ten – 86 per cent – of council [...]
David Cameron’s former adviser Steve Hilton says we need to rip up the banking system to promote competition May 25, 2016 David Cameron's former adviser Steve Hilton has branded the banking sector a "stitched-up, corrupt cartel" that needs to be completely overhauled. In an interview with City A.M.'s Bespoke magazine, Hilton, who this week declared his support for Vote Leave, labelled the industry chronically uncompetitive, and said that new regulations, such as America’s Dodd-Frank reforms, are making the [...]