Jeremy Hunt tells Washington that UK predictions are ‘much better’ than IMF doomsayers April 13, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said he is “confident” the UK will beat the poor growth forecasts predicted by the IMF. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this year that the UK economy will shrink by 0.3 per cent this year and grow by just one per cent in 2024. Speaking to Bloomberg in Washington [...]
Sadiq Khan’s London ULEZ expansion faces court challenge from Tory councils April 12, 2023 A judicial review into the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) across Greater London has been granted after a court ruling, it has emerged. London mayor Sadiq Khan opted to push ahead with plans to roll out the zone across all of outer London, from August 29, last year in the face of [...]
Post Brexit UK-US trade deal talks still on ice as Biden visits Northern Ireland April 12, 2023 Talks between the US and the UK on a post-Brexit free trade deal are not expected to resume until 2025, according to reports. Prime minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden are not said to have discussed the matter during a visit to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday [...]
Matt Hancock investigated by Parliament’s standards watchdog April 12, 2023 Former cabinet minister Matt Hancock is being investigated by Parliament’s standards watchdog, Daniel Greenberg. The ex-health secretary is under investigation for lobbying the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards “in a manner calculated or intended to influence his consideration of whether a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred”. Details of the investigation were posted on [...]
UK debt burden to top size of whole economy putting Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt pledge at risk, IMF forecasts April 12, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are on course to oversee the UK’s debt burden swelling to more than the size of the entire economy, putting one of the pair’s five pledges to taxpayers in peril, according to new forecasts out today. Britain’s debt to GDP ratio is tipped to climb to just over 101 per [...]
Labour poll lead narrows to record low in ‘blue wall’ Tory seats April 12, 2023 The Labour Party’s poll lead in a key set of ‘blue wall’ seats in southern England has narrowed to a record low, new polling data has revealed. Sir Keir Starmer’s party is leading the Conservatives by just two per cent among affluent Tory shire constituencies – a joint record low and a six point drop [...]
CBI crisis deepens as police now investigating misconduct claims after Danker’s dismissal April 12, 2023 Police have launched an investigation after the Confederation of British Industry sacked boss Tony Danker and suspended three other employees following a series of misconduct allegations. The board of the business group said Mr Danker’s conduct “fell short” of what was expected of him and said there had been “serious failings” in how it acted [...]
Liz Truss to criticise high taxes and warn of authoritarian ‘threat’ April 11, 2023 Liz Truss is to renew her advocacy of low taxes in a speech questioning whether western nations are “match fit to take on China”. Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister will suggest the 1980s “Anglo-American” economic model of increased privatisation and limited government is being “strangled into stagnation” in the latest leg of her comeback to the [...]
GCHQ: MI5 to appoint first female spy chief in its 100-year history April 11, 2023 A woman will become the boss of GCHQ for the first time in its more than 100-year history when the current director steps down next month. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that Anne Keast-Butler has been appointed to succeed Sir Jeremy Fleming as head of the government’s intelligence organisation. Keast-Butler, currently MI5’s deputy director-general, will [...]
UK standalone 5G rollout to be finished by 2030, ministers pledge April 11, 2023 Ministers are set to invest millions in boosting the UK’s connectivity via a nationwide rollout of 5G. All populated areas of the country will be covered by ‘standalone’ 5G – also called ‘5G-plus’, which is not reliant on existing 4G technology – by 2030, the government has pledged. Technology secretary Michelle Donelan today unveiled a [...]