Labour’s plans to part-nationalise BT ‘illegal under EU law’, Conservatives say November 16, 2019 Labour’s plans to nationalise BT’s digital arm to provide free internet would be illegal under European Union state aid rules according to the Conservative Party. The opposition pledged this week to provide the public and businesses throughout the country with free full-fibre broadband by 2030. Read more: General Election 2019: Labour officials meet to finalise [...]
Crossrail to pay out millions more to firm hired to keep project on track November 16, 2019 Crossrail is set to pay out additional incentives worth millions of pounds to a US company originally hired to keep the project on track and in budget. Officials on the taxpayer-funded railway scheme are close to agreeing a deal with US partner Bechtel for a new “incentive scheme” in the next few weeks, the New [...]
Wework faces US markets regulator inquiry after failed flotation November 16, 2019 The US markets regulator will undertake an inquiry into Wework’s failed attempt to float on the New York Stock Exchange this summer. The office space company will be scrutinised by the Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether it broke the law as it went ahead with a public listing, reports claim. Read more: Wework [...]
Twitter outlines political ad ban ahead of 2020 US election November 16, 2019 Twitter has announced its political advertising ban will include references to candidates and legislation. The social media site also said ads will not be allowed to advocate for certain outcomes on political and social causes. Twitter announced the ban last month, but on Friday disclosed more of the specifics of the ban for the first [...]
Police ‘assessing’ allegations Brexit Party candidates were offered peerage November 16, 2019 Police are assessing two allegations of electoral fraud after claims the Conservative Party offered peerages to Brexit Party candidates in an effort to persuade them to stand down. The claims first came to light in a video posted by Nigel Farage on Twitter earlier this week. The Brexit Party leader claimed that he and eight [...]
General Election 2019: Labour figures meet to finalise manifesto November 16, 2019 Labour officials will meet later today to finalise the party’s manifesto ahead of December’s general election. The party has already unveiled a number of policies and on Thursday announced it would part-nationalise telecomms giant BT in a bid to provide free full-fibre broadband for all. However, there are some areas in which Labour is yet [...]
Labour hasn’t factored BT’s pensions black hole into its nationalisation plan November 16, 2019 Here’s a riddle: how do you spend several billion pounds of taxpayers’ money and get nothing but a bunch of smiling accountants in return? The answer: tear Openreach out of BT, as Ofcom attempted a few years ago and Labour now proposes as part of its plan to nationalise the provision of ultrafast broadband. Read [...]
Property legal Q&A: The neighbours above our flat are very noisy. What should we do? November 15, 2019 Noisy neighbours are a common complaint amongst owners of flats. There are a few ways in which to approach this, and several issues for you to consider. First of all, check the terms of your lease. Better still, also check the terms of your neighbour’s lease, which you can download from the Land Registry for [...]
Sir Ed Davey pledges £100bn to tackle the climate crisis November 15, 2019 Liberal Democrat deputy leader Ed Davey this afternoon laid out his party’s economic plans, announcing that his party would spend an additional £100bn of public finance on tackling the climate crisis. Speaking at an event in Leeds, the party’s shadow chancellor said: “This includes a new £10bn renewable power fund to leverage in over £100bn [...]
AirPods Pro review: An incredible step up to the top table of mobile audio for Apple November 15, 2019 Apple’s regular AirPods leave me cold. They look daft, with their elongated stalks – often compared to toothbrush heads – and have such poor sound insulation that unless you’re listening to music in an hermetically sealed room, everything sounds distant and muddy. When Sony came along with its excellent WF-1000XM3 noise cancelling buds it was [...]