Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer butt heads in post-PMQs spat February 3, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have reportedly been involved in a heated confrontation after today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Starmer confronted the Prime Minister just outside the House of Commons, after a back-and-forth during PMQs over whether the Labour leader had in the past called for the UK to stay [...]
UK urges EU to extend grace period to 2023 in bid to soften Brexit impact February 3, 2021 Britain has asked the EU for a grace period extension until 2023 on checks made on trade moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has written to the European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic to ask for urgent political solutions on a number of issues at the [...]
‘Super’ Mario Draghi accepts mandate to try and form the next government in Italy February 3, 2021 'Super' Mario Draghi accepts mandate to try and form the next government in Italy
UK to split from EU rules and unveil post-Brexit state aid regime February 3, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will today outline the UK’s post-Brexit rules on government subsidies in a major break with the EU. A statement from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) department said the new set of rules, which supersede the EU’s state aid regime, will mean “local authorities, public bodies and the devolved administrations [...]
Cabinet minister rubbishes Sunak’s plan to give Universal Credit claimants one-off £1,000 payment February 3, 2021 Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has rubbished Rishi Sunak’s idea of giving a £1,000 lump sum payment to Universal Credit holders in what is a new front in an ongoing cabinet row about welfare payments. Coffey told MPs today that Sunak’s lump sum payment idea, intended to offset a cut in a temporary uplift [...]
Test and Trace is failing to persuade 20,000 people to self-isolate each day, Dido Harding admits February 3, 2021 Around 20,000 people each day who should be self-isolating are not being convinced to do so by the government’s NHS Test and Trace scheme, chief executive Baroness Dido Harding has admitted. Facing a grilling from the Commons science and technology committee, Harding said that based on last week’s Test and Trace figures “circa 20,000 people [...]
Trump uses impeachment response to spout election fraud consipracy February 2, 2021 Former President Donald Trump, who is banned from Twitter, tonight found a new outlet to air his unfounded claims about voter fraud, using his legal response to impeachment charges against him in the US Congress as a vehicle for his conspiracy theory.
UK threatens to cut all Myanmar aid if Aung San Suu Kyi not released February 2, 2021 The UK government has threatened to withdraw all aid to Myanmar if the country’s military does not release detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cease the current coup attempt. Asia minister Nigel Adams told MPs today that it would “suspend” aid to Myanmar, which all goes to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), if democracy is not [...]
Scotland to introduce ‘managed quarantine’ for all international arrivals February 2, 2021 Scotland will impose a “managed quarantine” on all international arrivals into the country, Nicola Sturgeon has announced, as she vowed to clamp down on Covid mutations crossing the border. Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week unveiled a 10-day hotel quarantine for arrivals to the UK from 30 countries most “at risk” of carrying new Covid [...]
UK fishermen to be hit with permanent ban on selling shellfish to EU February 2, 2021 The UK’s fishermen have been warned they face a permanent ban of selling some types of shellfish to the EU as they no longer conform to the bloc’s safety standards. The post-Brexit ban is set to include oysters, mussels, scallops, cockles and clams. It comes after thousands of tonnes of British shellfish has been unable [...]