Rishi Sunak set to announce £5bn defence spending boost during AUKUS summit March 12, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £5bn boost to defence spending during a key summit on the US-UK-Australia nuclear submarine deal. Sunak flew to San Diego on Sunday to attend a trilateral meeting with US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. It’s hoped Albanese will announce Australia is purchasing [...]
Hunt reportedly set to retain SMEs 19 per cent tax rate amid fears for tech March 12, 2023 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are set to hold on to the 19 per cent rate of company tax amid concerns for the future of the UK’s tech sector, the Mail has reported. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will hand small and medium businesses major tax breaks to boost investment in the spring statement this week, [...]
Gary Lineker row: Now George Osborne weighs in on Tory immigration rhetoric March 12, 2023 Support has poured in for Gary Lineker following his suspension from the BBC amid an ongoing row over the government’s policy on stopping small boats crossing the Channel. Football pundit Lineker was pulled off air last week after tweeting about the UK’s asylum policy following the announcement of the new Illegal Migration Bill by Suella [...]
Does the BBC’s Gary Lineker row show that the government has a problem with football? March 12, 2023 The weather forecast finished and then suddenly there it was: the BBC’s hurried replacement for Match of the Day following its spectacular bungling of the Gary Lineker row. Shorn of its theme tune, opening title, studio, presenter, pundits, commentators and about an hour of running time, this was bleak and surreal; a sort of post-apocalyptic [...]
Budget: Childcare support and energy bills on Hunt’s to-do list March 12, 2023 Ending the prepayment meter penalty on energy bills and boosting childcare support for the poorest parents are among measures set to be announced in the spring budget. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this weekend confirmed households on prepayment meters will no longer pay more than people on direct debits, as of July 2023. Energy security secretary Grant [...]
Chancellor Hunt says he can’t rush into tax cuts before economy gets back to growth March 11, 2023 British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he wanted to lower tax rates for individuals and especially businesses in the longer term but warned it would take time because the economy needed to grow more quickly first. Hunt, who is due to present his budget on Wednesday, said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that lower tax [...]
Health Secretary invites junior doctors for pay talks ahead of 72-hour strike March 11, 2023 The Health Secretary has invited junior doctors for pay talks in an attempt to avert next week’s three-day strike amid a bitter dispute over pay. Steve Barclay said he had proposed negotiations “on the same basis other health unions accepted”, after planned industrial action by tens of thousands of key workers was suspended when the [...]
Sunak and Macron strike deal: Britain to pay France £500m in bid stop small boat Channel crossings March 10, 2023 Britain will pay France nearly half a billion pounds over the next three years to step up efforts to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel, Rishi Sunak has announced. The Prime Minister committed to sending Paris £478 million (541 million euro) to fund a new detention centre in France and hundreds of extra French [...]
Boris Johnson should ‘absolutely not’ hand honour to his dad, immigration minister Jenrick says March 10, 2023 Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has said prime ministers should “absolutely not” hand honours to family members in response to reports Boris Johnson plans to include his father on his resignation honours list. Appearing on BBC Question Time on Thursday night, the Conservative MP was prompted to address the topic when a member of the audience [...]
Brexit: Retained EU law deadline must be extended to avoid ‘rushed bonfire’ of regulations, think tank warns March 9, 2023 The post Brexit retained EU law deadline should be extended to avoid a “rushed bonfire” of business regulations, a think tank has warned. Government risks missing a “golden opportunity” to boost the quality of the statute books if it does not lengthen the December 2023 deadline for the so-called sunset clause. Most Brussels legislation will [...]