Business energy support scheme to be slashed today as Jeremy Hunt warns help can’t last forever January 9, 2023 A new scheme to support businesses with their energy bills will be announced later on Monday, but is expected to be significantly cut after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned existing spending is “unsustainably expensive”. The package will be announced to MPs, with the current cap on the unit cost of electricity and gas for firms set [...]
‘Nobody died’: Embarrassment for Putin as Russia claims missile strikes on Ukrainian base killed 600 January 9, 2023 Ukrainian officials say nobody died in missile attacks Russia claims killed 600 troops. Vladimir Putin’s Russian defence ministry said missiles hit two temporary bases housing 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers in Kramatorsk in the easter Donetsk region. The strikes were retaliation for Ukraine’s attack in Makiivka, which left at least 89 Russian troops died, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. [...]
Watch: Bolsonaro supporters invade Brazil’s Congress and Supreme Court in Brasilia January 8, 2023 Supporters of Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday invaded the Supreme Court, the Congress building and surrounded the presidential palace in Brasilia, according to television images. In an echo of the Jan. 6, 2021 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Several thousand protesters broke into the [...]
UK public procurement reforms could create £4bn ‘accountability gap’, campaigners warn January 8, 2023 Plans to overhaul the UK’s public procurement processes risk creating an “accountability gap” around the use of public funds, anti-corruption campaigners have warned. The plans, which aim to make it easier for small businesses to win contracts from the UK government, seek to simplify the country’s procurement processes and make them easier to navigate. The [...]
Rishi Sunak hits back at critics of inflation promise but warns government ‘can’t help anybody’ if prices don’t fall January 8, 2023 Rishi Sunak has today claimed halving inflation by the end of the year – one of his five promises to the British public – will happen “because of the plans [the government] have put in place”. Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the prime minister doubled down on a series of pledges [...]
Rishi Sunak calls for ‘radical’ action as NHS on ‘knife-edge’ January 7, 2023 Rishi Sunak has urged health leaders at an emergency meeting to take “bold and radical” action to alleviate the winter crisis in the NHS. The Prime Minister told them during Downing Street talks on Saturday that a “business-as-usual mindset won’t fix the challenges we face”. Critics said the discussions would be just a “talking shop” [...]
Iran executions condemned by Cleverly amid Tehran crackdown on Mesa Amini protests January 7, 2023 Britain has condemned Iran’s execution of two men connected to nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini as “abhorrent”. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged Tehran to “end the violence against its own people”, with four men known to have been executed since demonstrations began in September. Iran’s judiciary said Mohammad Karami and Mohammad [...]
Putin: Raab to host London conference on Russian ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine January 7, 2023 London will host a major international conference led by Dominic Raab on Russia’s alleged war crimes during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The meeting will see justice secretary Dominic Raab join forces with Dutch justice minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius to co-host the conference in London’s Lancaster House. The conference aims to coordinate efforts to ensure the [...]
Putin’s 36-hour Ukraine truce will ‘do nothing’ for peace, James Cleverly warns January 6, 2023 Vladimir Putin’s plans for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday period will “do nothing to advance the prospects for peace”, the UK’s Foreign Secretary has said. Russia’s President Putin has ordered Moscow’s armed forces to observe the 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend, when the Russian Orthodox Church, which uses [...]
Government to push through laws which would ban strikes among some public sector workers January 5, 2023 The UK Government is to introduce a set of strike-busting laws as public sector unions continue to ballot members on ongoing industrial action. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced the introduction of a bill in Parliament over the coming weeks, Over recent months, strikes – especially those on the railway [...]