Former Labour deputy joins Palantir as tech giant targets UK growth Tech Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has joined Palantir as a senior vice president as the US tech firm looks to expand its work with the British government while facing mounting scrutiny over its public sector contracts. Watson, who served as an MP for 18 years and held ministerial roles under Gordon Brown, will work [...]
Lammy’s cohabitation rules threaten unmarried couples with ‘horrendous’ court costs Legal Justice secretary Alex Norris is facing backlash from senior legal figures on plans to give unmarried couples court-enforced rights after three years of cohabitation, passed on to him by predecessor David Lammy. The government is currently consulting on proposals to reform British couples’ cohabitation rights, which would give the courts power to intervene when unmarried [...]
South East Water chair quits after damning report by MPs Water The chair of South East Water has resigned with immediate effect after a damning report by MPs into supply issues facing the utilities business. Non-executive chair Chris Train has departed after tens of thousands of residents in Kent faced disruption to water supplies in November and December. In a statement South East Water said: “Board [...]
End of deadlock: Pension Schemes Bill to become law as government backs down April 29, 2026 The Pension Schemes Bill is set to become law after the House of Lords agreed to final watering down plans from the government, ending the long-standing deadlock between the two houses. The legislation had run into multiple walls amid consistent back and forth between the lower and upper house, after neither side refused to back [...]
Pension deadlock: Government and Lords refuse to back down in stalemate April 28, 2026 The government and the House of Lords are locked in a high-stakes political standoff over pensions, both refusing to back down on their demands for the Pension Schemes Bill, leaving its passage up in air as the clock winds down on this parliamentary session. Attempts to finalise the bill in the upper house remain ensnared [...]
Lib Dems vow to push back controversial Pension Schemes Bill April 24, 2026 The government has been warned that the Pension Schemes Bill will continue to be pushed back unless ministers remove controversial mandation powers, as a groundswell of opposition puts pressure on the government to water down the bill. The warning comes as the House of Commons gears up for the bill to bounce back from the [...]
Pension ping pong: Now government backtracks on mandation powers April 22, 2026 The government has been forced to water down controversial mandation powers in the Pension Schemes Bill after prolonged uproar from the pensions industry and opposition MPs and peers. Pensions minister Torsten Bell has tried to push through the bill with a clause that gives ministers the power to force funds to invest in UK infrastructure [...]
UK ministers to push ahead with ‘capped’ mandation powers after peers backlash March 27, 2026 Ministers are set to go toe-to-toe with the House of Lords over a plan to grant them powers to force pension funds into private assets and UK companies. Government officials said ministers would make concessions to try and get the measure through the upper house, which voted last week to remove a “reserve power” allowing [...]
House of Lords warns ministers’ pension power grab ‘dangerous and unjustified’ March 11, 2026 A member of the House of Lords has described the reserve power in the Pension Schemes Bill as “dangerous and unjustified” as ministers face intense scrutiny over the detail of their overhaul of the pensions system. Speaking in the House of Lords during an urgent question session, Baroness Stedman-Scott, a Conservative member, called out the [...]
If MPs can’t fix the Palace of Westminster, how will they fix Britain? February 18, 2026 The Palace of Westminster is a perfect mentonym for the state of Britain. It’s recognised and envied the world over. It’s both ceremonial and functional, ancient and modern. Like our democracy, it’s beautiful, but it’s also broken, infested with pests and at imminent risk of immolation in a ball of fire. Yet our entire political [...]