Brown hints at Iraq troop withdrawals July 23, 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown played up an improving security situation in Iraq yesterday and said the number of British troops there could continue to come down as key security tasks were completed. Brown told parliament the 4,100 British troops serving in Iraq would stay for the “next few months” but said he expected to see [...]
Reprieve for foreign profit taxation plan July 21, 2008 Chancellor Alistair Darling is considering axe-ing unpopular plans to reform the taxation of foreign profits that threatened to drive businesses away to tax havens outside the UK. Since the Treasury set out proposals last year to clamp down on tax avoidance, including introducing UK taxes on foreign profits and passive income, several companies have already [...]
Brown calls for release of five Britons July 21, 2008 Gordon Brown called for the release of five British hostages held in Iraq yesterday, after the release of a video claiming that one had killed himself. earlier this year. The prime minister, who is visiting Israel, described the video as “abhorrent”. He said: “I call on the hostage-takers to release those people who have been [...]
Anger as government admits it will miss carbon target by huge margin July 18, 2008 The Government admitted yesterday what experts have been saying for some time — that it will miss by a large margin its own target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2010. New projections from the Department of the Environment (DEFRA) put CO2 emissions in 2010 at only 15.5 [...]
Council wage strike tests Brown’s steel July 17, 2008 Hundreds of thousands of local government workers went on strike yesterday in a dispute over pay that paralysed services from education to rubbish collection. The pay dispute is a test of the government’s nerve at a time when it is languishing far behind the Conservatives in the polls and trying to fight soaring inflation by [...]
PM accused of U-turn on knife crime July 15, 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday people carrying knives would be “caught, prosecuted and punished” as he defended the government’s handling of knife crime following a spate of stabbing deaths. But his message was overshadowed over claims from opposition parties that the government had already backtracked from a “half-baked” policy to force those caught with [...]
Tories slam Brown’s latest car tax hike July 11, 2008 The Conservatives party yesterday slammed government plans to raise vehicle duty for polluting cars after it emerged the drivers of up to nine million vehicles could be left worse off. The news that so many hard pressed drivers of older and second hand cars will be hit has raised the spectre of another revolt by [...]
West warns Iran over nuclear tests July 10, 2008 Iran test-fired nine missiles yesterday and warned America and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects. Washington, which says Iran seeks atomic bombs, told Tehran to halt further tests. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for electricity. Iran’s missile tests rattled oil markets, helping crude prices to [...]
G8 in climate dispute with poor states July 9, 2008 Big emerging economies will come under pressure today to respond to an initiative by rich countries to work towards a target of at least halving their global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations want the leaders of eight fast growing countries to adopt a “shared vision” of tackling global [...]
Brown: stop wasting food July 8, 2008 Britons can help bring food prices down by cutting the amount they waste every year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday. Brown was speaking as he was travelling to the G8 summit in Japan where the rich nations’ club is meeting to discuss rising fuel and food prices as well as global warming. A government [...]