Boris Johnson announces plans to raise London’s Living Wage to £9.40 an hour November 2, 2015 London's Living Wage is set to rise again, after Boris Johnson and the Living Wage Foundation announced another round of hikes. In a speech this morning the Mayor of London said voluntary Living Wage will be raised to £9.40 an hour in the capital, from £9.15 an hour now. Meanwhile, the UK Living Wage will rise to £8.25 [...]
Scottish devolution: Westminster will not interfere in Scottish taxation and welfare powers, says Scottish secretary David Mundell November 2, 2015 There will not be any vetoes by Westminster on questions of Scottish taxation and welfare, the Scottish secretary David Mundell has said ahead of a House of Commons debate on the Scotland Bill next week. Scotland will be able to introduce new welfare benefits without any threat of the policy being overruled by the United Kingdom-wide parliament. [...]
Poll: Scots love Nicola Sturgeon November 1, 2015 Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has been rated the most popular and "widely appreciated" living person for Scots, according to new analysis. The YouGov analysis of close to 30,000 Scottish people revealed that out of 5,000 public figures, Nicola Sturgeon is the most loved person in Scotland. Read more: Cameron rules out second Indyref before [...]
Trident debate: Scottish Labour vote against renewal and choose to scrap nuclear missile system November 1, 2015 Scottish Labour have voted to scrap the United Kingdom's Trident nuclear missile system, based in Scotland. The party's conference in Perth saw delegates calling for the system not to be renewed. Some 70.3 per cent of party members voted in favour of unilateral disarmament. In response to the vote a spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn said: “The [...]
EU referendum: Ukip leader Nigel Farage says US trade official was paid to suggest there will be no free trade deal in Brexit scenario November 1, 2015 Leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage has said that the US trade official who said the United States wouldn't be interested in a free trade deal with the United Kingdom in a Brexit scenario was "paid to say that". Speaking on the BBC's the Andrew Marr show, Farage said it is "laughable" that a US [...]
In search of a new Safe Harbour: The EU’s push for new data transfer regulation with the US may be part of the problem October 30, 2015 Aftershocks are continuing to come following the European Court’s ground-breaking ruling on 6 October outlawing the “safe harbour” arrangements. The ruling isn’t just worrying for Silicon Valley giants, such as Facebook and Google, who rely on Safe Harbor to transfer their EU users’ data, but also for global businesses that manage employee data in the [...]
Hair-raising Donald Trump Halloween wigs are selling out already October 30, 2015 Presidential wannabe Donald Trump may have fallen in the opinion polls, but there is one place where his star is still rising – which is mainly down to his famous hair. It seems US shoppers are tapping up Trump for Halloween inspiration, with US retailers reporting that wigs inspired by the businessman, Apprentice host and [...]
Chancellor George Osborne launches National Infrastructure Commission October 30, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne today launched the National Infrastructure Commission, to oversee £100bn of spending on infrastructure projects. He said infrastructure is "at the heart" of the November spending review, with the money being used by 2020, and insist that the promised £15bn roads investment strategy will be realised. Read more: CBI/AECOM poll: infrastructure is a top concern [...]
Lord Davies report: Politicians and business groups say they are disappointed by final recommendations October 29, 2015 The final Davies Review report has been criticised by politicians and business groups for not going far enough to address gender diversity among senior managers. In his final Women on Boards report this morning, Lord Mervyn Davies, a former chairman and chief executive of Standard Chartered, said that 33 per cent of all board seats [...]
Government relinquishes full control of Tower Hamlets – but warns mayor John Biggs that a lapse in management will result in further “action” October 29, 2015 The government is handed control of the governance of Tower Hamlets borough council back to the borough, four months after the last mayoral election. Last November Eric Pickles, communities secretary at the time, had ordered a three-man team of commissioners to take over the handling of grants and property sales, as well as senior appointments or suspensions [...]