No10 communications chief to quit after nine months March 28, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle, is set to quit No10 Downing Street after nine months in the job. Doyle, who served as the Prime Minister’s communications chief in opposition, is understood to be stepping down immediately after feeling he had stabilised the government’s communications strategy after a rocky first few months in [...]
Football regulator amendments: No sunset clause but concessions to critics March 28, 2025 The powers to be afforded to the independent football regulator have been clarified after the government published its list of amendments to the Football Governance Bill. Calls for a sunset clause from some Tory peers have been rejected, although the Secretary of State will be required to formally review how well the act is working [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Workers’ rights bill ‘net negative’ for economy, OBR says March 26, 2025 The government’s workers’ rights bill will “probably [have] net negative economic impacts”, the independent fiscal watchdog has said. Labour unveiled their workers’ rights package – the Employment Rights Bill – last year, and measures were hailed by unions as “common sense” reforms for a “fairer economy”. But according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), [...]
Baroness Brady: Football regulator a solution in search of a problem February 19, 2025 West Ham United vice-chair Baroness Brady has said the incoming football regulator is a “solution in search of a problem”, adding that doing anything that changes the value of the Premier League broadcast deal would be “reckless and wrong”. The Football Governance Bill has been reintroduced into the House of Lords by the government having [...]
UK risks being ‘incubator economy’ with tech firms moving abroad, Lords warn February 3, 2025 The UK is at risk of becoming an “incubator economy” with tech firms moving abroad, if action is not taken to support companies to scale up, a group of Lords has warned. Britain must do a better job supporting UK-based artificial intelligence (AI) and creative technology start-ups to grow into global competitors, the House of [...]
‘Unsustainable’ sickness benefits cost UK more than defence, Lords warn January 20, 2025 The UK is spending more on “financially unsustainable” sickness benefits than defence, and “urgent” reform to the welfare system is needed to rein in costs, a group of Lords has said. In a letter to the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, the cross-party Lords Economic Affairs committee said the current benefits system penalises people [...]
Brady’s Football Regulator views are desperate protests, say governance firm January 16, 2025 Governance experts have hit out at Baroness Karren Brady over her stance on the Football Governance Bill, claiming she’s making “desperate protests” in the House of Lords on behalf of the Premier League. The West Ham United chair slammed accusations that the Premier League was effectively dragging its feet over topics relating to the Football [...]
Baroness Brady rebukes ‘wrong’ Football Governance Bill accusations in Lords January 15, 2025 Baroness Brady launched a sensational rebuke in the Football Governance Bill discussion in the House of Lords last night, defending the Premier League against accusations of effectively dragging its feet. West Ham United chair and Apprentice sidekick Baroness Brady tabled six of the 150-plus amendments that were placed on the record after the government introduced [...]
‘Don’t squander the scientific opportunity of a lifetime’, Lords warns UK January 14, 2025 The UK must take urgent action to reverse its declining leadership in engineering biology to avoid ‘squandering the scientific opportunity of a lifetime’. The House of Lords released a report today cautioning that without bold government intervention and increased private sector investment, Britain risks losing out on vast economic potential. Engineering biology, an evolving field [...]
Football regulator: Fight over Brady-backed ‘sunset clause’ hots up January 13, 2025 Conservative peers including West Ham United chair Karren Brady are this week expected to step up their push for a “sunset clause” that critics fear will render the incoming independent football regulator toothless. The sunset clause would allow for the football regulator to be scrapped after a set period time, likely to be five years, [...]