Second oil tanker in a week seized by Iran in Gulf – US Navy confirms May 3, 2023 A second oil tanker in a week was seized by Iran on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the US Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures.
HMRC tax-dodging prosecutions drop – and it has no plans to change that May 3, 2023 HMRC is prosecuting far fewer people for tax dodging than before the pandemic, an influential committee of MPs has warned. Over the two pandemic years, the tax authority completed around 1,000 fewer prosecutions for tax-related offences than before the pandemic, a report by the influential Public Accounts Committee found. In 2020–21 and 2021–22, it concluded [...]
Over a million commuters to be hit by Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion, London Tories claim May 3, 2023 More than a million people that commute into London could be hit by Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the City’s ultra low emission zone (ULEZ), City Hall Conservatives have argued. Under the expansion, motorists with petrol and diesel cars that don’t meet emissions standards will face a £12.50 daily charge or a £180 fine for each [...]
BP profits the “unearned windfalls of war” say Labour as windfall tax row heats up May 2, 2023 "Pearl-clutching" begins with Labour and Lib Dems plotting moves to toughen up windfall tax - despite BP paying a further £520m already
Mayoral Elections 2024: Who is in the frame to run against Sadiq Khan? May 2, 2023 London Conservatives are set to agree a candidate by the end of July to face off against Sadiq Khan in next year’s mayoral elections, it has emerged. Tory chiefs met earlier this week and agreed to fast-track the process, as campaigning begins to ramp up ahead of the City Hall vote to be held in [...]
Vestager: AI law on the way – but it might take a year April 30, 2023 The European Union is likely to reach a political agreement this year that will pave the way for the world’s first major artificial intelligence (AI) law, the bloc’s tech regulation chief Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday. This follows a preliminary deal reached on Thursday by members of the European Parliament to push through the draft of the [...]
Foreign Secretary: China talks not a “comfortable chit chat” as hawks circle April 30, 2023 Dealing with China is not a “comfortable chit chat over tea and biscuits”, the Foreign Secretary has said. James Cleverly insisted it was important to maintain dialogue with Xi Jinping’s regime, as hawkish Conservatives urge him to take a harsher line with China over reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang province and Hong Kong. In [...]
Fears raised over low NHS staff morale, health leader says April 29, 2023 A health boss has said NHS leaders have never been so worried over staff morale as nurses are set to go on strike again. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, a membership body for organisations that commission and provide services across the NHS, added that workforce concerns go beyond industrial action with “serious [...]
UK must change post-Brexit visa rules to help firms with labour shortages, report says April 29, 2023 The UK government needs to change post-Brexit visa rules in order to help firms overcome worsening labour shortages, UK lawmakers have said in a new report. The complexity of visa regulations in the wake of Britain exiting the EU has proved a “significant barrier to mobility”, a report by the House of Lords European Affairs [...]
Post-Brexit visa rules hurting London tourism industry, Sadiq Khan warns April 27, 2023 The mayor has called on the government to ease travel rules around European school children, language students and hospitality, construction and retail workers.