A property wealth tax is the only fair way to pay for the Covid-19 crisis July 28, 2020 Two years ago, the director of the Office for Budget Responsibility wrote the following: “Broadly speaking, the fiscal position is unsustainable if the public sector is on course to absorb an ever-growing share of national income… The baseline projection in each of our reports — since the first was published in 2011 — has pointed [...]
Michel Barnier reportedly believes post-Brexit trade deal is possible July 27, 2020 EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly expressed his belief to Brussels colleagues that a Brexit trade deal could get done with the UK, just days after publicly saying it was “unlikely”. Reuters reports that Barnier told a meeting of EU officials today that a deal could be completed before the end of the post-Brexit [...]
Trump’s national security adviser tests positive for coronavirus July 27, 2020 US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for coronavirus, the White House confirmed today. In a statement, the White House confirmed that there was no risk of exposure to either the President or vice-president Mike Pence. The 54-year-old O’Brien, who is the most senior official in the Trump administration to [...]
Germany and France could be next on UK quarantine list July 27, 2020 France and Germany could be put on the UK’s travel quarantine list alongside Spain, after seeing increases in coronavirus cases. Analysis by The Telegraph shows that rates of Covid-19 infection are rising across Europe, and that ministers in France and Germany have warned that new lockdowns could be implemented. Dominic Raab said yesterday that the [...]
Over-40s to pay more tax under plans to solve social care crisis July 27, 2020 Over-40s will be forced to pay more tax or national insurance under radical new plans being considered by ministers to solve the social care crisis, according to reports. Under fresh government plans, everyone under the age of 40 will have to start contributing towards the cost of care in later life, or be compelled to [...]
Johnson bans buy one get one free offers amid war on obesity July 27, 2020 Boris Johnson has banned buy one get one free offers and introduced a 9pm watershed on junk food advertising as the Prime Minister wages war on obesity amid the coronavirus crisis. GPs will prescribe Weight Watchers diet plans to overweight patients, as the government attempts to get every overweight Brit to lose 5 lbs. Johnson [...]
Lib Dem candidate Siobhan Benita quits race to become London mayor July 27, 2020 Siobhan Benita, the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for next year’s London mayor election, has stepped down after coronavirus delayed the vote until May 2021. Benita announced her decision today, saying the unpaid role was “very difficult to combine with other work”. Originally Londoners were set to vote on a new mayor in May 2020. However, the [...]
Want a recovery that works for everyone? Fix the injustices in the tax system July 27, 2020 The lockdown shone a spotlight onto a two-speed, two-nation Britain, where better-paid white-collar professionals worked from home, while less well-off key workers had to keep travelling to work, often on crowded public transport, to do riskier jobs. Even worse, it turned out that those less well-off key workers were paying much higher tax rates than [...]
A grown-up Japan marshals the world’s anti-China coalition July 27, 2020 Intellectual coherence has its advantages. While much of the western world has recently taken a holiday from history — as the US is weighed down by the melodrama of Donald Trump, the EU by the sleep-deprivation soap operas of its summit meetings, and the UK by profound confusions about how to respond to coronavirus — [...]
Labour at risk of bankruptcy from antisemitism legal cases July 26, 2020 Labour is preparing for a new round of legal cases concerning antisemitism complaints, which could plunge the party into serious financial difficulties. Lawyers from 3D Solicitors will next week set out the legal claims, from nine current and former Labour members, relating to potential data protection and privacy breaches. Labour’s shadow cabinet has reportedly been [...]