MP Simon Danczuk has to pay back over £11,000 after “error” in expenses claims March 18, 2016 MP Simon Danczuk is going to have to pay back over £11,000 after wrongly claiming money. The MP had claimed money for the cost of his children living in London, sparking local Liberal Democrats to ask the police to check if he had wrongly claimed the money. Now the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has ordered Danczuk [...]
US Presidential Election 2016: Senator Bernie Sanders slams calls for him to drop out of Democrat nomination race March 18, 2016 Senator Bernie Sanders has branded calls for him to drop out of the Democrat nomination race "absurd" amid claims President Barack Obama issued a rallying cry to the party to back Hillary Clinton. Obama told a group of Democrat donors last week that Sanders is coming to the point where his campaign to become the [...]
Scottish National Party MSP John Swinney calls for Scottish chancellor after devolved powers are introduced March 18, 2016 Scotland could need a its own chancellor when further revenue raising powers are devolved to Holyrood, Scottish National Party's John Swinney has said. The deputy first minister said that Scotland could need a dedicated tax minister to oversee the new powers. Swinney, who is current the cabinet secretary for finance, constitution and the economy, said [...]
EU referendum: Hargreaves Lansdown boss Peter Hargreaves backs Brexit March 18, 2016 Hargreaves Lansdown founder Peter Hargreaves has said he backs the UK leaving the European Union, the latest City bigwig to come out in support of Brexit. Hargreaves, who founded the Bristol-based finance firm in 1981, told the BBC a "fresh start" would help the country become more innovative. "I'm firmly convinced, that day – hopefully – [...]
US Presidential Election 2016: Do Donald Trump’s economic policies stack up? March 18, 2016 High profile attacks on Mexicans, Muslims, China and the disabled – and sheer disbelief that he could actually become President – have obscured Donald Trump’s economic policy programme. As he stokes up the prospect of more hostility and continues to criticise immigrants, observers could be forgiven for thinking he doesn’t even have one. But his unashamedly reactionary campaign [...]
A third of government’s major infrastructure projects at risk of never being achieving, MPs warn, a merger between authorities means nobody is there to be critical March 18, 2016 Around a third of government's major infrastructure projects are at risk of never being realised, MPs have warned today. A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) highlights that the Major Projects Authority, which merged with Infrastructure UK at the start of the year to become the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, had rated 34 per cent of government's [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron receives EU support to abolish the tampon tax March 17, 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron has secured the support of other EU leaders to pave the way for the UK to abolish the so-called "tampon tax", according to officials. A deal between the UK and the EU would give the government flexibility to remove the current five per cent VAT rate on sanitary products, replacing it [...]
Budget 2016: Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson says chancellor George Osborne “really is running out wriggle room” March 17, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne will likely need to hike taxes or cut spending if he is to meet his self-imposed target of balancing the budget by the end of the decade, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned. Paul Johnson, who runs the influential think tank, said today that the chancellor has [...]
President Obama nominates next Supreme Court judge after the death of Antonin Scalia last month March 17, 2016 US President Barrack Obama has nominated court of appeals judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, replacing Antonin Scalia. Garland is viewed as a moderate and has received support from both Democrats and Republicans in his career. “I’ve selected a nominee who is widely recognised not only as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who [...]
Fear that young voters are “frozen out” of democractic process with EU referendum and London mayoral election looming March 17, 2016 Young people are being are being frozen out of the democratic process as they become increasing disconnected from it, a new study has warned. With the EU referendum and London mayoral election looming, the democratic process is failing to connect with younger people. The research found a key barrier to voting was electoral registration, with four [...]