‘Cowardly’: Sunak delivers damning verdict on Iranian regime after UK national Alireza Akbari executed January 14, 2023 Rishi Sunak has condemned Iran’s “callous and cowardly” decision to execute British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari. The Prime Minister said he was “appalled” by Tehran’s “barbaric regime” after its state media announced the killing. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly vowed that the action taken by Iran would “not stand unchallenged” by the UK. Iranian state media [...]
Ex homeless charity boss spent thousands on luxury travel, high-end London restaurants and Apple watches, commission probe finds January 14, 2023 The former boss of a homelessness charity spent thousands of pounds of its money on luxury travel, meals and watches, an investigation has found Lee Dribben, former chief executive of the Ashley Foundation, also used charity funds to buy a surveillance system, according to an inquiry by the Charity Commission. The regulator said it had [...]
Trump Organisation fined £1.3m for tax fraud January 13, 2023 Donald Trump’s company has been fined 1.6 million dollars (£1.3 million) as punishment for a scheme in which the former US president’s top executives dodged personal income taxes on lavish job perks – a symbolic, hardly crippling blow for an enterprise boasting billions of dollars in assets. A fine was the only penalty a judge [...]
‘Stand up to Brexit purity cult’, Keir Starmer to urge Rishi Sunak in Northern Ireland protocol speech in Belfast January 13, 2023 Rishi Sunak must stand up to the “Brexit purity cult” of Eurosceptics on the Tory benches to find a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol issues, Sir Keir Starmer will say. The Labour leader will use a speech in Belfast to urge the Prime Minister to take on the European Research Group (ERG) in order [...]
More strikes: 100,000 civil servants WILL walk out next month after talks with government dubbed ‘total farce’ January 13, 2023 A strike by 100,000 civil servants is to go ahead next month after talks with the Government aimed at resolving a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions were dubbed a “total farce”. Cabinet Office Minister Jeremy Quin met with union leaders to discuss growing industrial unrest after weeks of stoppages across the country, including [...]
Putin shuffles Kremlin pack as Moscow infighting rages and mercenary Wagner group claims a victory January 13, 2023 As Russian troops wage a ferocious house-to-house fight for control of strongholds in eastern Ukraine, a parallel battle is unfolding in the top echelons of military power in Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin reshuffling his top generals while rival camps try to win his favour. The fighting for the salt mining town of Soledar and the nearby [...]
Financial Services and Markets Bill is now with the House of Lords, and its potential is extraordinary January 12, 2023 Lord Holmes of Richmond walks through the Financial Services and Markets Bill currently being debated in the House of Lords.
Bank of England to hike interest rates to lower peak but still to financial crisis high January 12, 2023 The Bank of England will lift interest rates to a much lower peak than expected just a matter of months ago, but is still set to send them to their steepest level since the financial crisis, City traders suspect. Markets reckon borrowing costs will peak at below 4.5 per cent, meaning investors think the Bank [...]
Can Starmer solve Ireland’s Brexit woes? Labour leader visits Belfast today for meeting with Irish premier Varadkar January 12, 2023 Irish premier Leo Varadkar and UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are to travel to Belfast on Thursday as efforts to resolve the dispute over the protocol ramp up. The Taoiseach and Sir Keir are to meet with the main Stormont parties to discuss the deadlock over the post-Brexit protocol, which the DUP party has [...]
Sadiq Khan: Time to end ‘vow of silence’ on Brexit business hit – and his plan to fix it January 12, 2023 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will lay into what he describes as the “selective amnesia” of government ministers who ignore the impacts of Brexit on the British business community. Speaking at a black tie dinner in the City tonight, Khan will say that the “unnecessarily hard-line version of Brexit (ministers have chosen) is having a [...]