UK-Japan relations ‘stronger than ever’ as Sunak pens new post-Brexit defence deal at Tower of London January 11, 2023 The UK and Japan today signed a new defence agreement with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying that relations between the two nations are “stronger than ever.” Sunak signed the deal alongside Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Tower of London this evening. The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) allows both nations to deploy military forces in [...]
Partygate: Boris Johnson joked staff were at ‘the most unsocially distanced’ gathering according to bombshell report January 11, 2023 Boris Johnson allegedly joked at a boozy No 10 leaving do during the coronavirus pandemic that staff were at “the most unsocially distanced party in the UK”. The claims will put the former prime minister under further pressure as he faces a parliamentary investigation into whether he misled MPs over the so-called partygate scandal. A spokesman for [...]
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen suspended by Tories for tweet about delay in vaccine data and Holocaust January 11, 2023 MP Andrew Bridgen has been suspended by the Tories for a “disgraceful” tweet, appearing to say the delay in releasing safety data on Covid-19 vaccines was the worst crime since the Holocaust. The MP for North West Leicestershire, took to Twitter this morning sharing an article from ZeroHedge, entitled “CDC Finally Releases VAERS Safety Monitoring [...]
City minister says UK crypto regulations unlikely to be ready in 2023 January 10, 2023 City minister Andrew Griffith said regulations for digital currencies are unlikely to be ready in 2023, as he reaffirmed the government’s aim to be “the home of well-regulated [and] technologically-advanced financial systems”. In a wide-ranging Treasury committee hearing today, Griffith was quizzed by MPs on the risks facing the crypto industry and the potential for [...]
Scrapping bankers’ bonus cap is a return to global norms, says City minister January 10, 2023 City minister Andrew Griffith said today that scrapping the bankers’ bonus cap would realign Britain with global financial norms, as he faced questions from MPs in parliament about the government’s so-called Edinburgh Reforms. Discussing bankers’ bonuses, Griffith said “we have departed from global norms… the global competitive set do not have this (bonus cap).” London, [...]
Double take: Grant Shapps tweets historic photo which edits out Boris Johnson January 10, 2023 There are few comparisons between Grant Shapps and dictators of yore – mercifully – but it appears he may be the beneficiary of a tried-and-tested trick of historical figures. Shapps posted a photo to twitter on Sunday which appeared to show him alongside two officials from Britain’s space programme welcoming the launch of Virgin Orbit’s [...]
Putin yanks Russia out of European anti-corruption scheme January 10, 2023 Russia has opted out of a European convention on fighting corruption, a move that comes in the wake of its withdrawal from the Council of Europe following start of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, to terminate adherence to the Council of Europe’s convention on [...]
Brexit: UK and N Ireland data-sharing progress a ‘positive step’ in protocol wrangling January 10, 2023 Progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing has been hailed as a “positive step” in ongoing talks to find a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris met European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London on Monday, as London and Brussels try [...]
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen suspended from the Commons over ‘cavalier’ attitude to lobbying rules January 10, 2023 MPs have agreed to suspend Tory MP Andrew Bridgen after he was found to have displayed a “very cavalier” attitude to the rules in a series of lobbying breaches. The North West Leicestershire Tory MP will be suspended from the Commons for five sitting days from Tuesday. Bridgen, a backbencher should have told ministers and officials [...]
Sunak and Starmer offer little new year cheer on ailing UK growth path January 10, 2023 This brand new weekly column, published every Tuesday, will drill down into the stories behind the numbers to reveal what makes the UK – and global – economy tick. But, today, inspired by what resembled soon-to-broken new year’s resolutions by political leaders last week, it will make the case for why a stable government economic [...]