House of Lords reform: 90 per cent of people say it needs a complete overhaul after tax credits vote October 28, 2015 Just ten per cent of British voters say the House of Lords should "remain as it is" following peers' votes on Monday night to delay the implementation of tax credit cuts. According to a new poll conducted by BMG Research for the Electoral Reform Society, a campaign group, nearly half (48 per cent) of people think the Lords should be an [...]
EU referendum: Bookies’ odds show increasing probability of Brexit October 28, 2015 The debate before the upcoming In/Out European Union referendum is hotting up, with polls showing results are likely to be increasingly close. And odds at one bookmaker is changing in response, with Betfair suggesting customers have been backing a UK exit from the EU. Read more: Report: Britain is the least "European" nation in the EU The [...]
Chuka Umunna and Vince Cable call for an end to “all-white” FTSE 100 boards October 28, 2015 Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna and former business secretary Vince Cable are calling on the government to set a target to eliminate "all-white" boards at Britain's blue-chip companies. Umunna and Cable said today that ethnic diversity among directors has "gone into reverse" and the government should step in. “Today, there are just four non-white CEOs [...]
EU referendum: Why the Brexit debate is a spark of hope for Europe, German pragmatism and British opposition should combine to prevent incompetent and unaccountable leadership October 28, 2015 The Brussels elite, not to mention the Paris political coterie, is once again expressing weariness at British criticism of the European Union. The diverse objections of the different Eurosceptic groups in Britain, seem to them, to confirm incompatibility of the UK with the EU. If Europe à la carte were at the heart of the [...]
The future of democracy must be digital: Our voting system needs to be modernised with electronic voting October 28, 2015 Yesterday’s Lords vote on the government’s move to speed up electoral registration changes should put the issue of voter turnout and participation firmly back on the agenda. The debate cannot end there. The new voter registration measures end the system under which the head of the household can sign up all its residents at once. [...]
EU referendum: Brexit could spell disaster for “brand” Britain risking less foreign investment and international trade October 28, 2015 The current debate about Britain’s future in the EU is a mixture of emotions, exaggeration and nostalgia. Without a pragmatic appraisal of the facts and consequences of the UK leaving the European Union, we could sleepwalk into a disaster. Ultimately, this would be a crisis, which could not only harm British brands but damage brand [...]
Britain is the least “European” nation in the EU, according to new report October 28, 2015 Quelle surprise? It turns out British people stand out among other European nations as being particularly unlikely to embrace any sense of European identity. A new report shows 64 per cent of Britons feel "British only", compared with 36 per cent of French who feel "French only", or 25 per cent of German residents who feel [...]
EU referendum: Prime Minister David Cameron to make case for reform in Iceland and defend EU against eurosceptics who claim UK needs a Norway style arrangement October 28, 2015 At the Northern Future Forum of nine northern European nations Prime Minister David Cameron will make his latest case for reforming the European Union. But Cameron will also defend EU membership against eurosceptics who have argued the UK needs a Norway-esque agreement within the EU, as Norway is not in the EU but is in the European Economic [...]
British Chambers of Commerce says chancellor George Osborne needs to make major structural changes October 28, 2015 A leading business group is calling on chancellor George Osborne to make major structural changes in next month’s spending review. In a submission published today, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that the British economy “remains in need of care and encouragement” and that the group’s members want Osborne to prioritise fixing the business [...]
Steel crisis 2015: UK business secretary Sajid Javid wants emergency EU steel summit October 28, 2015 Business secretary Sajid Javid is calling for an emergency European Union meeting over the steel crisis. Javid, who is set to meet with EU commissioners in Brussels today, said “severe pressures” on the European steel sector require “urgent action”. “I want to see steel top of the EU agenda,” Javid said. “We cannot stand by [...]