Slap £1.7bn in taxes on private schools to pay for state education, says Keir Starmer September 26, 2021 A Keir Starmer government would slap a £1.7bn tax burden on private schools in order to pay for state education, the Labour Leader has said. The opposition leader told the Sunday Mirror he wanted to see a “rethink” on education and said the pandemic has increased the gap between children of wealthy and poor families. [...]
AUKUS pact is ‘crazy beyond belief’ as it triggers new cold war, says Jeremy Corbyn September 26, 2021 Britain should stay out of a defence pact that he fears could see the country drawn into a new cold war with China, according to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Speaking at an event at The World Transformed conference, which is running alongside the Labour Party conference in Brighton this weekend, Corbyn said the idea [...]
Government to scale up nuclear power production after ‘years of dithering’ September 26, 2021 The government will back a rapid expansion of the UK’s nuclear energy production after “years of dithering” as the energy crisis prompts it to strengthen the country’s electricity supply. Ministers are understood to have zeroed in on nuclear energy as a means to helping the government achieve its net zero target by 2050, according to [...]
MPs zero in on deal to boot China out of £20bn nuclear power station project September 25, 2021 MPs are reportedly zeroing in on a deal that could see China booted from a £20bn nuclear power station project. The move, which could see the government take a stake in the Sizewell C power station, is likely to heighten geopolitical tensions. The government could reportedly confirm the plans by the beginning of October. Buying [...]
Exclusive: Lib Dem candidate hits out at City of London Corp over China stance September 25, 2021 The Liberal Democrats’ new candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency has launched an attack on the City of London Corporation’s “weakness towards the Chinese Communist Party”. Edward Lucas, a veteran journalist, said the powerful Square Mile local authority “don’t get the threat” from China. The Corporation, which is based in the historic Guildhall [...]
£265bn in spent by quangos every year not properly accounted for, MPs warn September 24, 2021 MPs warned this morning that a review of arm’s-length bodies which are responsible for spending £265bn a year of taxpayers’ money has not been completed five years after it was promised. The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that although the Cabinet Office had promised to review every so-called quango between 2016 and 2020, just [...]
Hillary Clinton to be installed as chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast September 24, 2021 Former US Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton said her mission is to inspire young people in Northern Ireland as she prepared to be installed as chancellor of Queen’s University. The former US secretary of state, who is the first woman appointed as chancellor of the Belfast academic institution, will attend an [...]
Report: George Osborne’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ has ‘failed to spark’ September 24, 2021 George Osborne’s so-called “bonfire of the quangos” in 2010 has been a failure as spending by these government bodies has almost tripled, according to a new parliamentary report. A new report from Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee today claims Osborne’s reforms “failed to spark” and that the Cabinet Office has “not been enforcing the code for public [...]
Westminster’s Beis committee to probe post-Brexit subsidies regime September 23, 2021 A Westminster committee is set to probe the UK’s post-Brexit subsidies regime and the role of the competition watchdog post-Brexit. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) committee’s inquiry will look at “the main opportunities and challenges for businesses under the new UK state aid regime” and “whether competition policy in the UK has weakened [...]
£1.3bn project to build five new high-tech Royal Navy warships kicks off September 23, 2021 As Defence Secretary Ben Wallace cut steel for the first vessel earlier today, work officially started on a £1.3bn project to build the Royal Navy’s five new warships. The ceremony for HMS Venturer today took place at Babcock’s facility at Rosyth in Fife, where the new Type 31 frigates are being built. The newest of [...]