Cummings Confessional: Your bingo card ahead of former No.10 aide’s Westminster tell-all May 26, 2021 PM Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings is set to give evidence to a joint session of Parliament’s Health and Science Committees on Wednesday. The aide who shot to global stardom (eds: please check) with a now infamous trip to the ruins of Barnard Castle in Northumberland during the height of ‘Lockdown One’ is expected [...]
Switzerland heads for Brexit-like EU clash with €227bn at stake from today May 26, 2021 From today, Swiss medical-technology companies will no longer be allowed to export duty-free to the European Union as Bern and Brussels failed to agree to a long-anticipated political treaty that would cover trade between the two countries. The goods-trading relationship at risk is worth $278bn, with medical-technology companies being the latest casualty of a deteriorating [...]
US businesses team up to oppose Biden’s tax rise proposals May 25, 2021 Business groups in the US have formed a coalition to oppose tax increase proposals by the Biden administration. The US government has proposed a global minimum corporation tax rate, as well as increasing tax payments in the US in order to pay for infrastructure projects. The tax proposals “could not come at a worse time”, [...]
English mass event trials only led to 15 Covid cases out of 58,000 people May 25, 2021 England’s collection of mass event trials have been deemed a “real success”, with only 15 positive Covid cases out of 58,000 people. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the results showed “we’re making good progress along the line to bring the West End back to life again”. The government put on a series of indoor events [...]
Dominic Cummings to say PM said ‘Covid is only killing 80-year-olds’ to delay lockdown May 25, 2021 Dominic Cummings will tomorrow tell a joint parliamentary committee that Boris Johnson justified delaying a second lockdown last autumn by saying “Covid is only killing 80-year-olds”. The Prime Minister’s former aide will reportedly tell the meeting that Johnson said last September that he would not repeat March’s lockdown and that he said: “I’m going to [...]
Put-in the diary: Biden to meet Russian President in June May 25, 2021 Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will meet in Geneva for face-to-face talks next month. The meeting will be the first since Biden took the Presidency in January 2021. The White House said the conversation would touch on “the full range of pressing issues,” with relations between the two sour. Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump had a [...]
Barristers warn Government on free speech clampdown in Policing Bill May 25, 2021 The UK’s barristers’ body has warned the Government it risks “criminalising annoying speech” in the Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The Bar Council said that proposals for “harassment in a public place” would render irritating or annoying speech a criminal offence. The provisions go much further than current laws which only criminalise [...]
Boris Johnson comments on women in burqas made Tories seem ‘insensitive’ to Muslims, says probe May 25, 2021 Anti-Muslim sentiment within the Tory party “remains a problem” and Boris Johnson’s comments on women in burqas created a sense that the party is “insensitive” to the community, according to a report into Islamophobia in the party. The independent report, authored by professor Swaran Singh, also said there was a “recurrent concern” among community groups [...]
Andrew Bailey says there are some ‘hot spots for prices’ but plays down inflation fears May 24, 2021 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned there are some “very hot spots in terms of prices”, but that he is confident inflation won’t run well above the UK’s two per cent target in the long-term. Annual CPI increased from 0.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent in April, creating fears among some that [...]
Bank of England felt no Treasury pressure to give Greensill preferential treatment, says Bailey May 24, 2021 The Bank of England did not face pressure from the Treasury or David Cameron to give Greensill Capital preferential treatment in evaluating the firm for a large-scale loan, according to bank governor Andrew Bailey. Bailey told MPs today that lobbying efforts from Cameron did not mean the failed supply chain finance firm had better treatment [...]