Ministers urged to deploy biometric age verification to address underage vaping November 22, 2024 Ministers have been urged to deploy a biometric age verification solution to address the issue of underage vaping. The company IKE Tech says it has developed a technological solution to mandate continuous age verification on vapes. It comes as the government is set to bring the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to Parliament which proposes to [...]
UK sanctions Dmitry Firtash and Isabel dos Santos as it ramps up crackdown on kleptocrats November 21, 2024 The UK has issued fresh sanctions against a series of “unscrupulous kleptocrats”, including Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash and Angolan billionaire Isabel Dos Santos, as it cranks up its crack down on corruption and dirty money.
Defence secretary refuses to confirm whether UK missiles were used against Russia November 21, 2024 The defence secretary has insisted he “won’t be drawn on operational details” of the conflict in Ukraine amid reports UK-made missiles have been fired into Russia. Russia’s military said it has shot down two UK-made Storm Shadow missiles, following reports that debris from the weapons had been discovered in the country’s Kursk region, which borders [...]
GB Energy given five years to turn a profit November 20, 2024 The boss of Great British Energy has been given a five-year target for Labour’s flagship state-owned energy company to become “profitable”, MPs have been told. Juergen Maier, who was appointed chairman of GB Energy in June, was asked at the Commons energy security and net zero committee whether he had a timeline on profitability. He [...]
Housing crisis ‘hampers growth’ but minister vows 1.5m target on track November 20, 2024 The UK’s housing crisis “hampers economic growth and productivity”, the housing minister has said, as he insisted the target of 1.5m new homes can be achieved. Labour pledged in its manifesto ahead of the election to deliver the 1.5m net additional dwellings over the course of the Parliament, ending in 2029. It came in response [...]
Reeves must answer ‘incredibly serious’ questions over CV, Tory MP demands November 19, 2024 Rachel Reeves must answer “incredibly serious” questions over claims she “misrepresented” her CV, a Tory MP has demanded. Richard Holden wrote to the Chancellor following reports she had exaggerated her professional experience at the Bank of England (BoE) and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). Reeves told Stylist magazine in 2021 that she spent a decade [...]
UK to relaunch trade talks with India and form new Japan partnership November 19, 2024 The UK is set to relaunch trade talks with India and form a new economic partnership with Japan, Downing Street has announced. It was confirmed that trade discussions with India will reopen at the start of next year, following a bilateral meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Indian leader Narendra Modi at the G20 summit [...]
Tractors circle Westminster as farmers protest inheritance tax rise November 19, 2024 Thousands of farmers marched on Westminster today in protest against the government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms. The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to meet with representatives from the industry after she unveiled plans in the Budget to impose inheritance tax (IHT) on farms worth more than £1m from April 2026. The [...]
Reeves has been ‘straight with the public’, No10 insists amid CV row November 18, 2024 Rachel Reeves has been “straight with the public” about Britain’s accounts and “restored financial stability”, No10 has insisted, amid claims the Chancellor exaggerated her CV. Reports emerged this weekend that Reeves had inflated the length of her service at the Bank of England in a Stylist interview in 2021. She told the magazine in 2021 [...]
Peers want to force Chagos Islands referendum to stop handover deal November 16, 2024 A group of Lords wants to force a referendum over the handover of the Chagos Islands, in a move that could delay the treaty from taking effect until after Donald Trump takes office. Lord Bellingham is leading a group of peers who plan to introduce an amendment to the treaty when it reaches the House [...]