Johnson apologises to Israeli minister who was unable to access COP26 in wheelchair November 2, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson has apologised to an Israeli minister who was unable to access COP26 in her wheelchair, and had to return to her hotel 50 miles away. Johnson said he was sorry for the “confusion” when he met minister Karine Elharrar with Israel’s prime minister Naftali Bennett. Elharrar, who has muscular dystrophy, told [...]
Cop26: Major economies sign deal to promote emerging green technologies November 2, 2021 The world’s ten largest economies have today signed up to a commitment to work with businesses to encourage tens of billions of pounds of investment into emerging green technology. The deal, signed at Cop26 by the 40 countries that make up 70 per cent of the globe’s economic activity, will see “countries and businesses … [...]
Chief of Ofcom predicts resistance from tech giants November 2, 2021 Facebook, Google and Twitter will build teams of lawyers to resist regulation when online harms legislation is introduced, the head of Ofcom has warned.
Fishing row: UK welcomes Macron stepping back from Brexit boat threat November 2, 2021 The UK this morning welcomed France having “stepped back” from threats to impose punitive action in a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licences as talks to settle the row continue. Environment secretary George Eustice acknowledged a de-escalation from French president Emmanuel Macron as he held off on the action against British boats that he had warned [...]
France calls for day-long ceasefire amid post-Brexit fishing saga November 1, 2021 French president Emmanuel Macron has given the UK until the end of climate negotiations at COP26, to fix the ongoing fishing row. “The British are going to come back to us tomorrow with further proposals. We’ll see where we are at the end of the day,” Macron told reporters in Glasgow. “We won’t be bringing [...]
Sunak comes out fighting in defence of tax hikes and spending spree November 1, 2021 Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended his decision to swell the tax burden to its highest level in decades. Responding to a grilling from fellow MPs on the Treasury Committee, Sunak said last week’s bumper budget spending spree was designed to deliver on a “bunch of commitments” the government promised to achieve. The Chancellor’s decision [...]
Johnson: Other climate promises will just be ‘blah blah blah’ unless leaders act at COP26 November 1, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson has called climate change the real world’s ‘doomsday device’, as he welcomed world leaders ahead of two weeks of climate negotiations at COP26 today. “We are in roughly the same position, my fellow global leaders, as James Bond today, except that the tragedy is that this is not a movie, and [...]
Causing ‘psychological harm’ to be added to the Online Safety Bill November 1, 2021 Online abusers could face two years in prison for sending messages or posting content that causes psychological harm under the new parliamentary bill.
Liz Truss gives France 48 hours to back down in fishing row November 1, 2021 Foreign secretary Liz Truss has set France a 48-hour deadline to reconsider its threats to the UK over fishing row, before the UK takes legal action. Truss accused France of making “completely unreasonable threats,” and behaving “unfairly,” in an interview with Sky News, which first reported the news, at the COP26 climate change summit in [...]
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 [...]