US Presidential Election 2016: Can President Obama’s strong stock market performance deliver Democrats victory in 2016? August 21, 2015 Barack Obama may have presided over some of the most tumultuous years in recent history – but it turns out Democrats are actually good for equities. Since 1900, stock markets have performed better under the Democrat presidents than Republican presidents overall, with higher returns and lower volatility, research has found. And Obama himself has overseen [...]
Labour leadership race: Andy Burnham raises concerns of “several thousand” Conservative infiltrators in vote August 21, 2015 Thousands of Conservatives could be intending to vote in the Labour leadership election, according to Andy Burnham’s campaign. An “urgent meeting” of candidates' teams is necessary, the BBC reports Michael Dugher, who is leading Burnham’s campaign, to have said. Read more: Now Labour is blocking genuine party members from leadership vote Burnham's team has written to [...]
Greek debt crisis: Alexis Tsipras accused of “cynical timing” over resignation as Prime Minister by Slovakia’s Peter Kazimir August 21, 2015 Alexis Tsipras has been accused of “cynical timing” for resigning as Greek Prime Minister so soon after receiving the first tranche of bailout funds. The Syriza leader quit last night after just 206 days in power, calling a snap election for 20 September. He tweeted last night that the “popular mandate I received on [...]
Chancellor George Osborne’s tax breaks for British film industry given go-ahead by EU August 21, 2015 A new higher rate of film tax relief has been given the go ahead by the European Union. The scheme, first announced in the March Budget, will enable film companies to claim tax relief of 25 per cent on production costs. Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the EU had agreed the move this morning. "British [...]
Jeremy Corbyn will apologise for Iraq War on behalf of Labour if he wins leadership contest August 20, 2015 Labour leader frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn has promised to apologise for the Iraq War on behalf of the party if he becomes leader. Corbyn will issue a statement saying sorry for the invasion of Iraq if he wins the battle to succeed Ed Miliband as party leader in the hotly contested race. He told the Guardian: [...]
EU referendum: British voters don’t believe no means no August 20, 2015 British voters do not believe "no" will really mean no when it comes to the European referendum, according to a new survey. The poll, by YouGov, found 41 per cent of voters think if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum, instead of leaving the bloc straight away, it's likely there would [...]
Greek snap election on 20 September, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras set to announce August 20, 2015 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to announce a snap election for 20 September, just months into his party Syriza's rule, according to Greek media reports. A separate report from Reuters claims Tsipras will offer his resignation later today, citing an unnamed government official. It had been widely expected that a confidence vote [...]
Foreign secretary Philip Hammond travels to Iran to reopen UK’s Tehran embassy after nearly four years August 20, 2015 The UK will formally reopen its embassy in Tehran this weekend, almost four years after the building shut down after being stormed by demonstrators. Foreign secretary Philip Hammond will travel to Iran "in the coming days" to reopen the embassy. At the same time the Iranian embassy in London will be reopened, the Foreign Office [...]
George Osborne wants to build more homes in the countryside August 20, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne wants to reform planning laws and make it easier for villages to build new houses. The chancellor said more people are moving to the countryside with rural areas of England experiencing net internal migration of more than 60,000 a year. "This government is determined to support the millions that already choose a [...]
London mayoral elections: Stephen Greenhalgh argues the capital needs a more joined-up approach to its emergency services August 20, 2015 London's ambulance service is in crisis. Last year Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to defend its performance, which was the worst in the country with only 66.5 per cent of ambulances reaching the most serious 999 calls within eight minutes. The NHS target is 75 per cent. This is because the ambulance service [...]