Government traffic light travel policy attacked from all sides June 16, 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has stepped up his attacks on the government’s traffic light system, calling for more stringent travel restrictions and an end to the amber list. The government is also facing attacks on its border policy from right-wingers and moderates alike in the Tory party who want to see more lax travel [...]
Liz Truss to meet US counterpart to discuss UK-US trade deal June 16, 2021 International trade secretary Liz Truss will meet with her US counterpart today to hold discussions over the UK-US trade deal and on ending the long-running Airbus-Boeing trade dispute. Truss will meet with US trade representative Katherine Tai in London for their first face-to-face meeting, with the pair also set to discuss “our overall approach to [...]
Lina Khan: How America’s answer to Margrethe Vestager plans to take on Big Tech June 16, 2021 Since taking over as European Commissioner for Competition in 2014, Margrethe Vestager has made her mission clear: to crack down on the ballooning power of Big Tech. The ruthless competition czar has undoubtedly delivered on those ambitions, handing down high-profile fines running into the tens of billions of euros against the likes of Facebook, Apple, [...]
Tories’ ‘triple lock’ pension pledge could cost Treasury £4bn June 16, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have to stump up £4bn on pensioners from next year to cover the Conservative Party’s ‘triple lock’ pledge, despite efforts to cut back spending after the pandemic. The headline growth rate of average UK earnings rose to 5.6 per cent in April — an artificial inflation caused by last year’s furlough [...]
Exclusive: Lib Dems and Tories neck-and-neck in Chesham and Amersham by-election poll June 15, 2021 Internal party polling shows the Lib Dems are fast closing on the Conservatives in the Chesham and Amershan by-election race, with one party analyst “confident” they can claim an upset victory. Liberal Democrat polling figures, seen by City A.M., put the party on 41 per cent and the Conservatives on 45 per cent just days [...]
Treasury and LSE call on EU for more co-operation on financial services post-Brexit June 15, 2021 The Treasury has called on the EU to engage more deeply with the UK government on the future of financial services post-Brexit. Katharine Braddick, the Treasury’s director of financial services, said today that both parties need to “get on” with outlining the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and EU on financial services. It comes as [...]
Ryanair boss says UK and EU flying bans over Belarus ‘not the way forward’ June 15, 2021 The UK and EU’s bans on flights crossing over Belarussian airspace is “not the way forward” and should not be in place long-term, according to Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. O’Leary told MPs today that the Belarussian government’s move to ground a Ryanair flight and detain an opposition journalist was a “state sponsored hijacking”, but [...]
Wanted Down Under: UK signs Australia free-trade deal June 15, 2021 The UK and Australia have struck a trade deal that will see a gradual wind-down of tariffs between the two countries and opens up new work visas for youngsters. PM Boris Johnson and his Aussie equivalent Scott Morrison sealed the deal over a Downing street dinner of Scottish smoked salmon and Welsh lamb last night. [...]
Refugees in the UK receive entrepreneurship support as part of pilot scheme June 15, 2021 The Home Office, alongside The National Lottery Community Fund, has offered business startup training to 112 refugees in a year-long pilot entrepreneurship-support programme confirmed today. The programme, overseen by the Centre for Entrepreneurs, has funded four local business support organisations which trained up the refugees. The success of the pilot has helped three of the [...]
US and EU near truce in long-running $11.5bn trade war June 15, 2021 The US and EU are set to announce a five-year suspension of tariffs over aircraft subsidies, marking an end to a trade dispute that has lasted 17 years. The two sides have agreed to pause the world’s largest corporate trade dispute and focus on the threat posed by China’s nascent commercial aircraft industry, sources told [...]