Germany election latest: Merkel’s party beaten, both Scholz and Laschet eye chancellorship September 27, 2021 The Social Democrats led by Olaf Scholz are heading for victory in Germany’s national election, beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Union bloc in a closely-fought race. Election officials said early this morning that a count of all 299 constituencies showed the Social Democrats, the SPD, won 25.9 per cent of the vote, ahead of [...]
Sadiq Khan to call for Labour unity as he sets out his stall for future leadership bid September 27, 2021 Sadiq Khan will today call for a fractious Labour party to unite before fighting the next election, while also trumpeting his own achievements as London mayor in what is being seen as an attempt to set out his stall for a future leadership bid. Khan is expected to say that “Labour is already making a [...]
Labour vows to scrap business rates if elected in tax shakeup September 26, 2021 Major UK business groups have thrown their weight behind new Labour plans to cut and then entirely scrap business rates in what is being billed as “the biggest overhaul of business taxation in a generation”. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will tell the Labour party conference in Brighton tomorrow that a Labour government would replace business [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to endorse Angela Rayner’s ‘Tory scum’ comments September 26, 2021 Sir Keir Starmer has refused to back Angela Rayner’s fiery comments over the past 24 hours about Boris Johnson and his cabinet being “racist…homophobic…scum”. Starmer said he would “not have used” those phrases and suggested that it was “not keeping with respectful debate”. The Labour leader said he would talk to his deputy about the [...]
Shortages: PM’s emergency driver visa plans slammed as a ‘drop in the bucket’ September 26, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson will use a temporary visa scheme to allow overseas workers into the UK in a bid to ease the country’s shortages in the lead up to Christmas. But the plan was rounded on by the Lib Dems, who this morning indicated that the number of emergency visas that can be granted [...]
Keir Starmer U-turns on Labour policy to nationalise energy sector September 26, 2021 Sir Keir Starmer has today said a Labour government will not nationalise the country’s energy sector, overturning a key pledge from the last election and a promise he made in the party’s leadership contest. Starmer also wouldn’t rule out income tax rises, noting that “nothing is off the table”. The Labour leader said today that [...]
Shapps says ‘don’t panic buy petrol’ as he makes plea for new HGV drivers September 26, 2021 Grant Shapps has made a plea for people not to panic buy petrol after scenes of long queues across the country as he launched a drive to get former HGV drivers working in the sector again. The transport secretary said “there’s plenty of fuel”, but that “if everyone carries on buying it when they don’t [...]
MPs slammed for month-long break while UK enters ‘autumn of discontent’ September 26, 2021 Members of the House of Commons are under fire for their upcoming near month-long parliamentary break while the UK enters an “autumn of discontent”. The latest recess for the House of Commons runs from close of business this Thursday until October 18 to enable Labour and Conservative MPs to attend their party conferences. It means [...]
Bring in music and poetry so more people will embrace socialism, says Jeremy Corbyn September 26, 2021 If Labour brought in more music and poetry, more people would be tempted to embrace socialism, according to Jeremy Corbyn. The former Labour leader told an event at The World Transformed conference, which is running alongside the Labour Party conference in Brighton this weekend, that political meetings did not need to be boring and “held [...]
D-Day in Germany: End of the Merkel era as Germans go to the polls in three-way battle September 26, 2021 As polls have opened in Germany and election day has begun for just over 60m eligible voters, Europe’s largest economy is seeing its first three-way contest for the chancellery as the environmentalist Greens join the country’s two traditional big parties in fielding a candidate for the top job. The Social Democrats’ candidate, Olaf Scholz, is [...]