UK seeking ‘strong trade relationship’ with US amid tariffs, Starmer says February 2, 2025 The UK will seek a “strong trading relationship” with the US, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as the threat of a trade war looms after Donald Trump announced new tariffs. The US president has introduced a 25% levy on goods coming from Mexico and Canada, and a 10% trade tax on Chinese goods, which will [...]
Yvette Cooper defends Sir Keir Starmer amid ‘HR manager’ claims February 2, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer stands for “respect and hard work”, one of his most senior ministers has said after the Prime Minister was likened to “an HR manager”. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the Plan for Change – a set of milestones which the Prime Minister fronted – as “clear”, when asked about Sir Keir’s alleged [...]
High street sales grow but threat of closures looms February 1, 2025 High street sales grew in January but the gains failed to offset volume losses last year, leading analysts to warn of closures as costs mount. Total retail sales in discretionary spend categories grew by 7.1 per cent in January, although this comes off the back of a 0.8 per cent drop last January, according to [...]
Starmer positions the UK as a trailblazer in AI innovation January 13, 2025 Keir Starmer has thrown the weight of Whitehall behind AI in a bid to boost growth and position the UK as a world leader in the sector. On Monday morning, Keir Starmer revealed the UK’s ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’, a transformative strategy to establish the UK as a global leader in AI. He said: “The [...]
The runners and riders to replace under-fire City minister Tulip Siddiq January 10, 2025 Downing Street is reportedly weighing up a number of potential candidates to replace Tulip Siddiq as her position as City minister comes under increasing pressure. Siddiq, the niece of ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina, has been in the headlines since last month when she was named in an investigation into whether her Bangladeshi family embezzled [...]
Government announces post-Oasis ticket resale clampdown January 10, 2025 The government has said it will intervene to tackle ticket touts after a recent wave of frustration around inflated resale prices. As part of the government’s broader Plan for Change, a public consultation has been announced to stop exploitative practices in the ticket resale market and to improve transparency for fans. The announcement comes after [...]
Metro mayors to control railways and housing in ‘landmark’ devolution plans December 16, 2024 Mayors of large cities and regions across England will soon be able to take control of local infrastructure and skills projects under a new devolution bill, which was introduced in Parliament today. The English Devolution White Paper will give metro mayors – directly elected regional leaders who chair combined authorities – significant new powers in [...]
Labour’s business backers – where are they now? December 10, 2024 Labour won the public backing of over 120 business chiefs in a letter before the election – but the enthusiasm of those executives appears to have dimmed since then. City AM tried to track them down. It was a letter that seemed to signal a tectonic shift in British politics when it landed in newspapers [...]
Cabinet minister pledges to make government more ‘start up’ December 8, 2024 A cabinet minister is set to pledge that the government will become “more like a start up” ahead of the launch of a £100m fund targeting public service reform. Pat McFadden will call for Whitehall to adopt a ‘test and learn culture’, stating: “If we keep governing as usual, we are not going to achieve [...]
Assisted Dying: MPs narrowly vote in favour of controversial Bill – what next? November 29, 2024 The gates have opened for the Assisted Dying Bill today after MPs voted 330 to 275, majority 55, to approve a second reading of the controversial Bill