Oxford Street M&S: Angela Rayner gives all-clear for demolition December 5, 2024 Angela Rayner has given the all-clear for the demolition of the flagship Oxford Street Marks & Spencer store. The deputy prime minister has granted permission for M&S to demolish the 94-year-old shop at Marble Arch in a decision published today. Plans to knock down Orchard House, which dates to the 1930s, and two other buildings, [...]
Shock poll puts Reform UK ahead of Labour for first time, as Tories surge December 5, 2024 A new poll has put Reform UK one point ahead of the Labour Party for the first time. Research by pollsters at FindOutNow put Nigel Farage’s party on 24 per cent, one point above Labour on 23 per cent. While Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party came higher than both, at 26 per cent, with the Lib [...]
Calls to reform ‘beyond repair’ lobbying rules after freebie-gate December 5, 2024 The government should reform the UK’s “beyond repair” lobbying rules in a bid to rebuild public trust in politics in the wake of the freebie-gate scandal, ministers have been urged. Professional body the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is campaigning for the government to replace the 2014 Lobbying Act with fresh legislation to close [...]
Starmer pledges to deliver ‘higher living standards’ in milestones speech December 5, 2024 Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to deliver “higher living standards” across the UK by the end of this parliament – but did not put a figure on his target. The Prime Minister aimed to flesh out his pre-election promise to kickstart economic growth, as he set out a set of new “milestones” in a major [...]
Hedge fund managers could buy land, MPs told, as Tories fail to scrap ‘farm tax’ December 4, 2024 Hedge fund managers could buy up farmland if UK farmers sell up to avoid the inheritance levy, MPs were told, as the Tories brought a vote on the so-called ‘family farms tax’. Conservative MPs used an opposition day debate on Wednesday to bring a Commons vote on Labour’s Budget measure which would see farmers pay [...]
UK takes down multibillion-dollar Russian crypto laundering network December 4, 2024 The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has smashed a multibillion-dollar Russian money laundering scheme which operated in Britain and had ties to the Kremlin. Investigators said on Wednesday that uncovering the Russian-speaking network, run out of London, Moscow and Dubai, marked the NCAs biggest money laundering case for a decade. The investigation was given the [...]
PMQs: Reeves ‘coming back for more’ in next Budget, Badenoch warns December 4, 2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be “coming back for more” borrowing and further tax rises in her next Budget, according to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. During a feisty PMQs the Conservative leader railed against the Prime Minister who she said “failed to repeat the Chancellor’s pledge of no more borrowing and no more taxes”. After referencing [...]
Employment reforms need considerable thought to not ‘swamp business’ December 4, 2024 ELA urged Parliament that the Employment Bill needs "considerable..thought" to not to "swamp business" with costs or obligations.
Starmer needs a rethink, not a relaunch December 4, 2024 It doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to picture a communist bureaucrat issuing a decree: “Comrades, I can announce today that four years from now 92 per cent of routine operations will be carried out within our new national target of just four and a half months – realising a goal that has [...]
Changing tune: Now Reeves refuses to rule out future tax rises December 3, 2024 Rachel Reeves has repeatedly declined to guarantee that there will be no more borrowing or tax rises following her first Budget, despite being pressed by MPs on her previous pledge. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in November, the Chancellor sought to reassure business leaders that there would be no repeat of [...]