COP26: Meaningful action or a load of hot air? November 1, 2021 City of London Corporation policy chair Catherine McGuinness urged on Friday that we must “ensure that COP26 is about action, not just ‘blah blah blah’,” if we are to finance the transition to net zero and meet the challenge Greta Thunberg has thrown down to us. Her call for meaningful action follows the UN’s weather [...]
Less than two per cent of eligible parents use Shared Parental Leave November 1, 2021 New research shows that less than 2 per cent of eligible couples use the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme, with its uptake falling 17 per cent in the past year.
Entente Discordiale: UK fires back in NI and French fishing Brexit rows November 1, 2021 The UK’s relations with its nearest neighbours have fallen to a new low over the weekend, with ongoing rows over fishing rights and Northern Ireland threatening to throw post-Brexit planning into chaos. First, Boris Johnson said it was “up to France” to solve a battle over fishing rights, with the UK Government still incensed after [...]
UK sends £50m in humanitarian support for Afghans living under the Taliban October 31, 2021 The UK has sent £50m in humanitarian support for Afghans living under the Taliban today, as part of the £286m aid package it announced in September. The funds will be pumped into UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, after NATO withdrew the final forces from Afghanistan two months ago this week. [...]
COP26: Sharma warns summit is ‘last best hope’ to prevent climate crisis October 31, 2021 The chief of the COP26 summit has warned global leaders the conference is the world’s “last, best hope” to prevent a climate crisis. Alok Sharma MP told delegates at the opening ceremony of COP26 in Glasgow that the window to avoiding the worst effects of global warming is “closing”. Global leaders will negotiate over the [...]
French president tells Johnson to ‘respect the rules’ amid post-Brexit fishing licence row October 31, 2021 French president Emmanuel Macron has told Boris Johnson to “respect the rules” amid a row over fishing licences, according to a French official. Though the French presidential official told reporters at the G20 summit today that “the goal for both the president and the prime minister was to work towards de-escalation” – Macron has said [...]
Post-Brexit: Trading with countries further afield could ramp up UK emissions 88 per cent October 29, 2021 Replacing the trade lost between the UK and the EU since 2018 with deal with countries further afield could increase emissions by 88 per cent, new analysis has suggested. The added distance of travel amounts to around 6.5m tonnes of CO2, according to cross-party advocacy group Best for Britain and UK Trade Business – the [...]
Eustice ‘happy to live with consequences’ of Brexit despite forecast GDP hit October 29, 2021 Environment secretary George Eustice has said he is “quite happy to live with the consequences” of Brexit after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that the economic impacts would be double that of the pandemic. Speaking to BBC 4 Today’s Nick Robinson, and proposed with the government appointed OBR’s estimate, the minister said: “Well [...]
Big Issue founder says Boris Johnson ‘owes’ him for not standing for London mayor October 29, 2021 Big Issue founder Lord Bird says Boris Johnson “owes him” for not standing for London mayor, and he is now calling in the debt from the current Prime Minister to tackle the homeless crisis. Speaking at Westminster, the campaigning independent peer told how Johnson had “jumped in the air” when he turned down a request [...]
Brexit: Truss summons French ambassador as fishing row escalates further October 28, 2021 France’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to meet foreign secretary Liz Truss tomorrow as Paris refuses to back down over its threats to ban UK seafood and impose trade barriers. Truss said she wanted ambassador Catherine Colonna to explain to the UK’s Europe minister Wendy Morton the “disappointing and disproportionate threats made against [...]