Major UK business body calls for furlough scheme extension to July January 15, 2021 One of the UK’s largest business lobbies is calling for the government to extend the furlough scheme to July and to give out a fresh round of business grants worth £25,000 each. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also called for temporary VAT cuts and business rates relief to be extended, with the group saying [...]
Govt says it won’t lower employment rights in Brexit wake January 15, 2021 The government has rejected a report that it plans to tear up EU employment protections, which include the 48-hour working week. The deregulation is being put together by the business department with Downing Street’s blessing, the Financial Times reported, but has not yet been agreed by ministers. The main areas of focus were reportedly on [...]
Brexit: Michel Barnier says new UK-EU border friction here to stay January 14, 2021 Much of the post-Brexit trade disruption and regulatory issues in the past two weeks will not be fixable, according to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Barnier said today that many things “changed for good” when the UK left the EU’s single market and customs union on 31 December, adding that “there are mechanical, [...]
Post-Brexit delays are ‘teething problems’, says minister January 14, 2021 Environmental secretary George Eustice told the House of Commons earlier today that post-Brexit customs delays, currently heavily impacting Scottish fishing exports, are only “teething problems”. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the backlog “shameful” on Twitter last night, in a push for compensation for Scottish fishermen. Eustice said that the government will ‘remain open’ to [...]
Liz Truss to meet with Joe Biden’s new trade team over US tariffs on Scotch whisky January 14, 2021 International trade secretary Liz Truss has told MPs today that she will meet with Joe Biden’s top trade negotiator in short time to discuss US tariffs on Scotch whisky. Speaking in the House of Commons, Truss said: “I have been clear with the United States and the European Union that we want to de-escalate this [...]
Johnson dismisses referendum talk despite polling January 14, 2021 Over half of Scots would vote in favour of Scottish independence if a referendum were to be held tomorrow, according to an opinion poll published today. According to the poll by Savanta ComRes, 57 per cent of Scots said they would vote in favour of independence, as opposed to 43 per cent who would vote [...]
China’s President Xi writes to former Starbucks chairman in push to improve trade relations January 14, 2021 China’s President Xi Jinping has written to Starbucks’ former chairman to promote trade, state media reported this morning. Xi asked former Starbuck’s tycoon Howard Schultz to promote trade and business relations between Washington and Beijing, urging Schultz to “continue to play an active role in promoting China-US economic and trade cooperation”, the official Xinhua news [...]
Leaning into lockdown – making the best of staying at home January 14, 2021 | Sponsored The arrival of not one, not two but three vaccines – which are being rolled out as we speak – has given us all a light at the end of the tunnel to look towards. It allows us to hope that life might soon return to normal, and with all of those things we took [...]
New Covid travel testing rules delayed until Monday January 14, 2021 Pre-departure testing will now come into force on Monday, three days later than initially planned. Transport secretary Grant Shapps tweeted the last minute change of plan was to give international travellers time to prepare. Shapps also reminded travellers to complete a Passenger Locator Form before travelling. The form helps to contact travellers if they have [...]
Donald Trump becomes first US president to be impeached twice January 13, 2021 Donald Trump has become the first US president in history to be impeached twice. A majority of the US House of Representatives tonight voted to impeach Trump, formally charging him with inciting an insurrection. Following hours of debate in Congress, Democrats secured enough votes to push through the impeachment. The final tally was 232 votes [...]