Russia prepared to re-route gas flows if punished with sanctions February 16, 2022 Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov has warned the country could shift supplies to other markets if it is hit with sanctions.
Priti Patel pushes Big Tech to have a proactive role in axing ‘legal but harmful’ online content February 16, 2022 Tech firms may be required to proactively monitor “legal but harmful” user content in a Home Office push on the new Online Safety Bill. As reported by the Financial Times, Home Secretary Priti Patel has been looking to widen the scope of the bill, with a particular focus on fraud, terrorism and other illegal activities [...]
Starmer says entitled to ask for pay rise in rebuke of Bank of England February 16, 2022 Workers have every right to ask for a pay rise amid the UK’s surging inflation rate and cost of living crunch, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said. In a direct rebuke of comments made by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, the Labour leader said “it’s very difficult to universally say” to workers that [...]
EU President: Europe can deal with partial disruption to Russian gas flows February 16, 2022 The EU could cope with a partial disruption to gas imports from Russia, argued commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
HMRC splashes £12m on data analysts February 16, 2022 HMRC has almost tripled its yearly spend on data analyst and data scientist roles over the past five years, according to official figures. The data, retrieved via the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank, revealed a large uptake in data analyst and data science staff year on year [...]
Editorial: Truss lets the cat out of the bag on ruinous NI hike February 16, 2022 Lest there had been any suspicion about the feline characteristics of the four-legged creature in the sack, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss confirmed what we had all suspected last night. The cat, as they say, is out of the bag. In a radio interview with LBC yesterday Truss – when asked about the coming National Insurance [...]
Big tech rule book could be agreed as soon as April as EU clamps down on Google and Apple February 15, 2022 Landmark EU rules aimed at curbing the power of tech giants could be agreed between lawmakers and EU countries as soon as April. Although the rules have faced some obstacles, lawmaker Andreas Schwab told Reuters that he is optimistic that an agreement could be reached in record time for a key piece of legislation. Known [...]
Government looks to end free Covid-19 testing February 15, 2022 Ministers are reportedly preparing to end of free Covid-19 testing next week, as the government tries to move past the pandemic. The move forms part of plans to slash the ongoing costs of the pandemic, which will be revealed in the government’s Living Safely with Covid strategy, The Times first reported. The new strategy could [...]
Johnson says Russia sending out ‘mixed messages’ over Ukraine as he declares threat not over February 15, 2022 Boris Johnson has said there have been signs of a “diplomatic opening” over the Ukraine crisis, but that Russia is still sending out “mixed messages” and the threat of war is not over. The Prime Minister today welcomed the changed tone of the Kremlin, and the removal of some Russian troops from the Ukrainian border, [...]
High Court rules hiring process to bring in Dido Harding and Mike Coupe was unlawful February 15, 2022 The High Court ruled today that the process behind the Government’s appointment of Dido Harding and Mike Coupe to senior emergency healthcare jobs without competition was unlawful. The Court declared that the processes by which Matt Hancock appointed Dido Harding as Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection and Mike Coupe as Director of [...]