Former Chancellor predicts PM will U-turn on HS2 cuts November 21, 2021 Former Chancellor George Osborne has predicted Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a U-turn on the government’s decision to cut HS2’s eastern leg. Talking to the Financial Times’ Payne’s Politics podcast, Osborne – who was Chancellor from 2010 to 2015 during David Cameron’s government – labelled the decision to scale back on HS2 as “pretty [...]
Weak oversight led to Greensill Capital putting millions of taxpayers’ money at risk November 20, 2021 Weak internal controls at the state-owned bank overseeing Covid-19 loan schemes led to Greensill Capital putting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money at risk. A probe by the Public Accounts Committee, a group of MPs that scrutinise the government’s spending, found the British Business Bank, the state-owned bank that oversaw the Covid-19 emergency loan schemes, [...]
UK drivers banned from using hand-held devices November 19, 2021 UK drivers will be banned from filming or searching for playlists on hand-held devices from next year under government plans to boost road safety.
EU: ‘change in tone’ from UK but post-Brexit trade deal is ‘linked’ to solving Northern Ireland Protocol November 19, 2021 European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic has said the post-Brexit trade deal is “intrinsically linked” to settling the Protocol. Sefcovic was speaking at the Brexit Institute at Dublin City University, immediately before negotiations with Lord David Frost. Sefcovic said: “Settling the divorce has always been and remains a precondition for our future relationship. “It was [...]
Culture Secretary says social media has been ‘hijacked’ by left-wing activists November 19, 2021 Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said people have become afraid to say what they think for fear of being "cancelled".
Disgraced former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke faces court for failing to pay £35k after sentence for sexual assault November 19, 2021 Disgraced former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke is facing fresh court proceedings after allegedly failing to pay £35,000 in prosecution costs following his sentence for sexually assaulting two women. The former Dover MP, 50, was jailed for two years in September 2020 after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault following a month-long trial. [...]
MP register update shows Boris Johnson used Heathrow lounge and Geoffrey Cox pocketed another £54k November 19, 2021 The latest update to the register of MPs’ interests shows that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was given use of the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport for three people on October 7, before he flew to Marbella on holiday. The Windsor Suite is a VIP lounge at Heathrow and has been used by royals including the [...]
Government ‘did not act on warnings’ from pre-Covid pandemic simulations, says audit November 19, 2021 The government failed to act on warnings from pandemic simulations and was left unprepared for Covid-19, according to a new parliamentary audit. Findings from a National Audit Office (NAO) audit said the government needs to “strengthen national resilience to prepare for future risks of this scale”, after its previous emergency plans lacked key detail on [...]
G7 calls Belarus ‘callous’ as 2,000 migrants gather at Polish border November 18, 2021 The G7 has called Belarus “callous” over its treatment of migrants, which has seen some 2,000 people gather in desperation at the Polish border. There are currently around 7,000 migrants residing in Belarus, according to presidential press secretary Natalya Eismont today, who hope of entering the European Union (EU). “The European Union shall open a [...]
Lib Dems call for bank tax hike to plug TfL funding gap November 18, 2021 The Liberal Democrats have called for taxes on banks to be hiked to help fill Transport for London’s (TfL) £6.6bn funding gap. The party called the long-running TfL funding saga between the government and mayor of London Sadiq Khan a “a ridiculous macho battle”, while urging them to “sort this mess out”. Khan last night [...]