Renters’ protection on the cards as competition watchdog launches probe into housing malpractice and land ‘banking’ February 28, 2023 Housing tenants could be given extra protections and housebuilders forced to change their practices, the competition watchdog has warned. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a probe into the building and rental sectors, saying it would “need to find” any competition issues that might be holding back house building in the UK. “The [...]
Why council funding may be the next hot potato for Rishi Sunak to handle January 23, 2024 Dozens of Tory MPs have written to Rishi Sunak demanding “emergency” funding for councils which they say are facing cash pressures “like never before” amid an election year.
Minister says it’s ‘fine’ Prince Charles accepted €3m cash from Qataris June 26, 2022 It was perfectly fine for Prince Charles to accept bundles of cash worth €3m from Qatar’s former Prime Minister, according to a cabinet minister. Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said he had no problem with the Prince’s actions from a decade ago as long as the donations went through the proper processes. The Sunday Times [...]
Minister says EU will be responsible for Stormont chaos if it doesn’t rewrite NI Protocol May 22, 2022 The EU will be responsible for indefinite Stormont chaos if it does not agree to rewrite the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, according to Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis. In a fresh shot at Brussels for its stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Lewis said that the EU is putting the Good Friday Agreement at risk [...]
Sunak appoints unity Cabinet as Hunt stays and Braverman returns October 25, 2022 Jeremy Hunt will remain as chancellor under Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister picked a top team which finely balanced the different wings of the Tory party. Hunt is expected to deliver the planned Halloween fiscal statement next Monday, which is set to include a series of tax hikes and spending cuts. Close Boris [...]
Lack of prosecutors threatens to worsen England and Wales’ Crown Court backlogs, Criminal Bar Association warns January 5, 2023 A shortage of prosecutors in the UK’s criminal justice system threatens to worsen the backlogs in the country’s Crown Courts, the head of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has warned. A record number of criminal cases are now being halted due to a lack of prosecutors willing and able to work, CBA chair Kirsty Brimelow [...]
Boris Johnson ‘right person’ to lead Tories into election, says minister June 26, 2022 Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis has said Boris Johnson is still the “right person to lead” the Tories into the next election, despite two heavy by-election defeats on Thursday. Lewis said that the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections were always going to be “difficult” and insisted the Prime Minister can still be an election [...]
Criminal barristers set to vote on ending strike action following new pay offer September 29, 2022 Criminal barristers are set to vote on ending strike action following negotiations between the Criminal Bar Association and Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) today outlined a package of reforms and fee uplifts reached during the talks, which it said represented a further investment of £54 million in the criminal bar and [...]
Boris Johnson’s political survival could come at the cost of Britain’s rule of law April 20, 2022 Last week epitomised a favourite phrase of political pundits: it was a “bruising week” for the government. This one, so far, isn’t shaping up to be much better, after the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis compared fines handed out to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to speeding tickets. The partygate fines have been fraught [...]
Cabinet minister ‘confident’ there was no Number 10 interference in Gray report May 29, 2022 Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis has said he is “confident” there was no Number 10 interference in the Sue Gray report into partygate amid reports to the contrary. The Sunday Times reported today that three senior government officials, including top civil servant Simon Case, lobbied Gray to water down her report on the eve of [...]