Downing Street rushes to stress relation between PM and Chancellor is ‘good’ while Boris Johnson turns to Lion King after staff exodus February 4, 2022 Downing Street insisted this afternoon that relations between Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are “good”. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I don’t know when they last spoke, they speak almost daily, but I don’t know the exact last time.” Asked how relations are between No 10 and No 11, he said: “Good – [...]
‘Unprecedented’ relations: China and Russia urge NATO to halt expansion February 4, 2022 China and Russia have urged against NATO expanding across Europe, as the bloc draws up a sanctions package should Russia invade Ukraine. Chinese president Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Beijing today for the Winter Olympics, met to discuss bilateral relations and a string of major issues concerning international strategic security and stability, [...]
Cybersecurity: ‘To cripple UK, Putin does not need nuclear weapons’ February 4, 2022 The UK’s public sector needs to be “agile” in employing the government’s new cybersecurity strategy, according to analysts, amid fears of a Russian devised cyberattack. While the strategy, published last week, “looks good on paper” – there are significant areas of improvement, say experts. “To cripple the UK, Putin does not need nuclear weapons,” explained cybersecurity expert [...]
Nine-in-ten Brits don’t want financial services regulations to promote ‘global competitiveness’ February 4, 2022 Nine-in-ten Brits do not think the government should change financial services regulations to promote “international competitiveness” post-Brexit, according to a new survey. An Opinium survey – commissioned by an alliance of 37 charities and public interest groups – found 91 per cent of Brits would prefer the government to “focus on the future stability of [...]
Disbelief and outrage across EU as UK says it won’t do anything to stop end to Brexit food checks February 3, 2022 European media responded with shock and disbelief this morning after a minister in Northern Ireland ordered to end checks on food in his country and the UK declared it won’t do anything about it. Moreover, Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan is expected to announce his resignation by the end of the week, potentially later [...]
London Tory MP to call for government to block £100m expansion of Wimbledon’s All England club February 3, 2022 A senior London Tory MP is set to call on the government to block a £100m expansion of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), which would see a new 8,000-person stadium built for the Wimbledon Championships. Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond told City A.M. that the proposed development would come “at the expense [...]
Number 10 chaos: Boris Johnson’s communications aide quits February 3, 2022 Boris Johnson’s director of communications has quit this evening, just hours after his policy chief also left Downing Street. Jack Doyle, a well-respected former journalist who joined the Number 10 operation in 2020, has reportedly told friends he always planned to leave after two years. Doyle also told Downing Street staff that the departure had [...]
Northern Ireland first minister Paul Givan resigns February 3, 2022 Northern Ireland first minister Paul Givan has resigned in opposition to the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol. Givan’s departure will also mean that Sinn Féin leader Michelle O’Neill will lose her position as deputy first minister as a part of the rules surrounding Northern Ireland’s power sharing agreement. It comes after environment minister Edwin Poots told [...]
EU aims to tighten data curbs on non-EU governments February 3, 2022 New European law will start requiring cloud services, like Amazon and Microsoft, to set up safeguards against illegal data transfers to non-EU governments, as the EU continues to rein in US tech giants. According to reports by Reuters, the European Commission’s Data Act, which is set to be published at the end of this month, [...]
Number 10 policy chief quits over Johnson’s Savile slur about Keir Starmer February 3, 2022 Number 10’s policy chief has resigned over Boris Johnson’s repeated accusations that Sir Keir Starmer chose not to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was the director of public prosecutions. Munira Mirza yesterday in a letter to the PM said there was “no fair or reasonable basis for that assertion” and that she could no longer [...]