Chinese diplomats pulled from UK after Manchester consulate attack December 14, 2022 Six Chinese diplomats have been removed from Britain by Beijing, just months after a protester was beaten at a Manchester consulate. Consul general Zheng Xiyuan was among the group to leave the country, which came after police last week said they wanted to interview the six diplomats over the incident. Foreign secretary James Cleverly said [...]
Sunak calls on Khan to scrap Ulez expansion to all London boroughs December 14, 2022 Sadiq Khan should “listen to the public” and scrap the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to all of London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said. Sunak said during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today that it is the “overwhelming” view of London residents that the levy should not be expanded. Ulez will [...]
Michelle Donelan to take ‘short’ maternity leave in new year December 14, 2022 Culture secretary Michelle Donelan has revealed she is expecting her first child, and will take “short” maternity leave in the new year. Announcing the news on Twitter, she wrote: “My husband & I are very excited & blessed to be expecting a baby next year. I’ll be taking a short maternity leave from DCMS. I’ll [...]
NHS urges private healthcare to share patient data and boost care in winter crisis December 14, 2022 The NHS has urged private healthcare operators to share data across the health network to boost patient care amid a winter crisis. A report by the NHS’ Acute Data Alignment Programme has doubled down on its bid to create a single source of healthcare data in England, saying it could improve the quality of treatment [...]
Fewer hospital beds and rising staff sickness dragging down NHS, says IFS December 14, 2022 The NHS is less productive now than it was before the pandemic despite an increase in spending each year since 2019. In October 2022, the NHS carried out 14 per cent fewer emergency admissions, 14 per cent fewer outpatient appointments and 11 per cent fewer elective and maternity admissions than in the same month in 2019, [...]
Khan calls for London to get bigger slice of Levelling Up cash from government December 14, 2022 Sadiq Khan has called on Rishi Sunak to give London more cash from the government’s signature Levelling Up fund to tackle “the capital’s own substantial inequalities”. The London mayor said the capital was missing out on hundreds of millions of pounds of government money post-Brexit. New figures from City Hall show London has received £76 [...]
Solidarity? These rail strikes hit the lowest-paid the hardest December 13, 2022 In primary schools across the world, teachers spend hours pointing out to their students the wonder of the natural world – the way all the pieces fit together to make a whole. Bug-eyed kids stare avidly at the inner workings of an ant’s nest; others might be shown a video of the ways bee colonies [...]
Bank of England calls for tighter rules on LDI market after mini-budget chaos December 13, 2022 Tighter oversight of the pensions industry is needed to ensure it can “withstand severe but plausible market moves” similar in size to those seen in the aftermath of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget in September, the Bank of England said today. The recommendation from the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) has been sparked by concerns over [...]
Rishi Sunak warns his cabinet about ‘challenging’ winter of UK strikes December 13, 2022 Rishi Sunak has warned his cabinet that winter will be “challenging” as widespread industrial action ramps up and as the economic downturn deepens. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman today said the “government will do all we can to minimise disruption”, while calling for union bosses to get back to the negotiating table. Today marks the [...]
China crafts £116bn chips support package as it tackles US curbs with WTO December 13, 2022 China is reportedly crafting a $143bn (£116.5bn) package to support its semiconductor industry, as it tackles new US trading curbs with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The package would be a major pillar in sustaining its chips sector, which is currently fielding attempts from the US to slow its technological advances. Beijing plans to roll [...]