Grow, baby, grow… but will Labour’s growth agenda be enough? January 29, 2025 City AM’s politics reporter, Jessica Frank-Keyes, unpacks the week in Westminster. Today, she tackles Labour’s growing promises. Picture a graph with the x axis stretching from 1800 to the present day. The data is represented as a fairly flat line along the bottom, up to about 1960. Then it bumps around at about a quarter [...]
Heathrow: Starmer won’t say if he backs London airport expansion January 22, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether he would back the expansion of Heathrow Airport after voting against a third runway in 2018. The Prime Minister said would not be “comment on speculation” on the issue, as emphasised the government is “committed to growth” when asked about reports ministers could be set to approve [...]
Starmer’s value for money office might be a waste of money, MPs warn January 20, 2025 Keir Starmer’s new value for money office might be a waste of money, an influential group of MPs have warned in a sceptical report. The newly-established Office for Value for Money (OVfM), which Labour pledged to set up ahead of the election, is supposed to improve government competitiveness and crackdown on waste. But concerns have [...]
‘Budget hasn’t worked’: Reeves defends China trip as Stride says Brits ‘deserve better’ January 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves has defended her trip to China amid economic turmoil in the UK as MPs argued her Budget “hasn’t worked” and insisted: “The British people deserve better.” The Chancellor appeared in the House of Commons for the first time since last week’s bond market shock threw her public spending plans and fiscal rules into [...]
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 [...]
‘Where is the Chancellor?’: Rachel Reeves urged to cancel China trip amid gilt turmoil January 9, 2025 Mel Stride has criticised Rachel Reeves for her absence in parliament as the UK government’s borrowing costs soar, asking the commons: “Where is the Chancellor?” The Conservative shadow Chancellor hit out at Reeves, who is coming under pressure to cancel a long-planned trip to China and Davos, during an urgent question in the Commons. It [...]
PMQs: Siddiq ‘acted appropriately’ by referring herself to adviser, Starmer says January 8, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Tulip Siddiq has “acted appropriately” by referring herself to the independent adviser on standards and said he would not give “running commentary” of the recently announced probe into her finances. The City minister referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests on Monday, for [...]
Political deaths in 2024: The well-known names we lost in the last year December 30, 2024 Whether a former deputy Prime Minister infamous for throwing a punch, to a Scottish independence campaigner and former First Minister, 2024 saw the deaths of several political heavyweights. As the year draws to a close, we look back at the lives of some well-known Westminster names who have died over the past 12 months. Derek [...]
Calls to reform ‘beyond repair’ lobbying rules after freebie-gate December 5, 2024 The government should reform the UK’s “beyond repair” lobbying rules in a bid to rebuild public trust in politics in the wake of the freebie-gate scandal, ministers have been urged. Professional body the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is campaigning for the government to replace the 2014 Lobbying Act with fresh legislation to close [...]
Hedge fund managers could buy land, MPs told, as Tories fail to scrap ‘farm tax’ December 4, 2024 Hedge fund managers could buy up farmland if UK farmers sell up to avoid the inheritance levy, MPs were told, as the Tories brought a vote on the so-called ‘family farms tax’. Conservative MPs used an opposition day debate on Wednesday to bring a Commons vote on Labour’s Budget measure which would see farmers pay [...]