Natwest hit with £250m lawsuit tied to Thurrock Council scandal Banking Natwest could be on the hook for more than a quarter of a billion pounds for allegedly aiding a businessman in secretly transferring funds from his investment firm. The FTSE 100 giant’s subsidiary – the Royal Bank of Scotland – has been engulfed in the collapse of Rockfire Group, which was triggered by a fraud [...]
Local elections 2026: who will win in Harrow Council? London The Conservatives’ last London stronghold faces its toughest test yet. Four consecutive 4.99 per cent council tax rises, a cumulative 20 per cent hike adding nearly £500 to Band D bills, have handed Labour a powerful attack line. A candidate suspension over offensive social media posts has added damaging scrutiny in one of London’s most [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Hackney? London CLICK HERE to view all the latest London election results Voters go to the polls in Hackney for the local elections against the backdrop of a council tax hike and a government funding surge, the previously Labour-dominated borough looks to be a testing ground for Green support in London. In 2022, Sir Keir Starmer’s party [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Greenwich? May 6, 2026 CLICK HERE to view all the latest London election results As voters head to the polls in Greenwich, the Labour stronghold is set to see a rise in Green support amidst a hike in council tax and a cut in central government funding of the local authority. Back in 2022 Labour secured an overwhelming majority [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Enfield? May 6, 2026 CLICK HERE to view all the latest London election results Voters are going to the polls in the Labour and Conservative battleground of Enfield in the local elections, against a backdrop of higher council tax and substantially boosted government funding for the Council. In this latest set of local elections in May, results in Enfield [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Ealing? May 6, 2026 Voters are heading to the polls in the Labour stronghold of Ealing, against a backdrop of controversial developments, an increasingly split electoral map, and a hike in council tax. In the West London borough of Ealing, Labour is defending one of its strongest majorities in London at this latest set of local elections. Back [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Croydon? May 6, 2026 Voters are heading to the polls in the Labour-Conservative marginal borough of Croydon, following multiple Council bankruptcies, an increasingly split electoral map, and a hike in council tax. In its last set of local elections in 2022, Croydon was a rare London local authority with an almost dead-heat between Labour and Conservatives. Both parties ended [...]
Forest’s Hounslow e-bike contract win sparks concerns over cash-first tender model July 31, 2025 Hounslow Council awarded one of its two e-bike contracts to the operator which offered them the highest fees despite scoring demonstrably lower than rivals on other metrics, City AM can reveal. The move, which has attracted fury from rival operators, lays bare the competing interests of cash-strapped local authorities as they weigh which criteria to prioritise [...]
Council finances in dire straits, MPs say June 18, 2025 Councils could run out of money in 2026 due to unsustainable book balancing methods, according to parliamentarians. The hike in national insurance contributions (NIC), combined with spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), has squeezed local council finances, a new report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found. Despite Reform’s DOGE campaign, they [...]
Even Conservatives admit that cuts to council funding have gone too far April 24, 2024 With a quarter of Conservative councillors admitting their local authority is struggling to provide the basics, change is clearly needed.