General election 2015: Treasury minister David Gauked asks ONS boss to check Ed Miliband’s numbers April 7, 2015 Treasury minister David Gauke has written to the UK Statistics Authority, complaining about the way Labour leader Ed Miliband presented Office for National Statistics (ONS) data at an election rally this weekend. In the letter addressed to the Authority’s chair Sir Andrew Dilnot, seen by City A.M., Gauke asked him to “make it publicly [...]
Parliamentary candidate Mike Whitehead switches to Ukip following row with Conservative party April 6, 2015 Former Tory parliamentary candidate Mike Whitehead has joined Ukip, following a dispute with the local Conservative group in his Yorkshire constituency. Until last week, Whitehead was standing for the Conservative party in Hull West and Hessle, but was reportedly “sacked” for not supporting the party's local council candidate. "This man is not our candidate [...]
General Election 2015: Lib Dems and Conservatives clash over personal tax allowance April 5, 2015 The Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservatives of unfairly taking credit for changes to personal tax allowance in the UK. In 2016/2017, the minimum income at which people have to start paying tax will go up from £10,600 to £10,800. This will rise again to £11,000 in 2017/2018. The move was introduced by the coalition [...]
General Election 2015: Osborne promises to get 2.4m first-time buyers onto housing ladder with property “revolution” April 5, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to bring about a “property revolution” in the UK, helping 2.4m more first-time buyers to get on the property ladder. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he said he intended to double the number of first time buyers to 500,000 a year over the next five years, should the [...]
Shared parental leave has started – here’s what you need to know about the new law April 5, 2015 Today is the start of shared parental leave – a new law that will allow couples to split childcare responsibilities more evenly. Under the rules, which were first put forward by the Liberal Democrats while in coalition, up to 50 weeks of leave can be shared between two parents. This is additional to the compulsory [...]
General Election 2015: Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood launches inquiry into leaked memo claiming Nicola Sturgeon backed Cameron over Miliband for PM April 4, 2015 The cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood has ordered an inquiry into a leaked memo claiming Nicola Sturgeon said David Cameron would be preferable as Prime Minister to Labour leader Ed Miliband. The Scottish First Minister and leader of the SNP said the claims, published in the Daily Telegraph from a leaked [...]
General Election 2015: Ed Miliband promises £5bn for 125,000 new homes funded by Help to Buy ISA April 4, 2015 Ed Miliband has promised billions of pounds of funding to build 125,000 new homes over the next five years. The policy, due to be announced by the Labour party today, is based on the Help to Buy ISA revealed by Chancellor George Osborne in the latest Budget and aimed at getting first-time buyers on the [...]
David Cameron courts first-time buyers as 50,000 sign on to home discount scheme April 3, 2015 Over 50,000 people have signed up to the government's programme to give first-time buyers a 20 per cent discount on their new home. An extension of the controversial Help to Buy initiative, the programme means new properties up to £250,000 and £450,000 in London will be subject to deep discounts. However, only those under the [...]
Leaders’ debate: Why Nigel Farage failed to break through with HIV claim April 3, 2015 Last night's rare spectacle of seven party leaders tearing each other apart on live TV proved more entertaining than the pundits had feared. Instead of a two hour bora-thon, sparks flew as the seven leaders accused each other of everything from economic incompetence to conspiracies over support for mass immigration. But perhaps the surprise loser of the [...]
TV leaders’ debate 2015: Here’s why Nicola Sturgeon won for the SNP April 3, 2015 Last night's seven-way political slug-fest was a sight to see in British politics. The only parallel to ITV's leaders' debate spectacle are Presidential primaries where a host of candidates battle it out for the party's nomination. But after all the pre-scripted answers and not so clever comebacks the SNP's leader Nicola Sturgeon emerged triumphant. Out of four [...]