Home Secretary defends PM’s immigration speech after backlash Politics The Home Secretary has defended the Prime Minister’s choice of language after he received criticism for claiming that the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers” without major reform to the immigration system. Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who was suspended from Labour after voting against welfare reforms, posted on X: “Talk of an “island [...]
Former City minister quits Westminster group over scathing FCA report Politics The former City minister John Glen has quit a cross-parliamentary group on fairer finance after it released an incendiary report on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accusing it of “incompetence”. In a letter to the Financial Times, Glen, who served as City minister between 2018 and 2022, said he was “dismayed” by the report and [...]
Labour’s rejection of conventional economic theory ignores important insights Labour rejects conventional economic theory — to its detriment One of the first tasks facing whoever becomes chancellor after the General Election will be choosing the next governor of the Bank of England. Getting to make this choice would be a key step in the plans of Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell to shake up the Bank of England, but his radicalism is not [...]
John McDonnell: ‘No one needs to be a billionaire’ November 19, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is set to take aim at billionaires today, describing their wealth as “obscene” as Labour releases research showing almost a third of Britain’s billionaires have donated money to the Tories. McDonnell is expected to say he wants to “rewrite the rules of our economy” in a speech in central London later [...]
‘Bad for business’: Financial lobby group criticises McDonnell’s planned financial transactions tax September 12, 2019 Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s plans to extend the scope of Labour’s proposed financial transactions tax have come under criticism from the head of a City lobby group. “A tax on financial transactions would be bad for business, bad for investors, bad for savers, and bad for the economy,” said Miles Celic, chief executive of Thecityuk. [...]
Industry slams Labour plan to bring outsourced public services in-house July 21, 2019 Business leaders have pilloried a Labour policy announcement to bring local council jobs like construction, bin collection and school dinners in-house. John McDonnell this weekend said the party wants local councils to carry out the services themselves rather than pay companies to do it. The Confederation of British Industry’s chief UK policy director Matthew Fell [...]
Labour to launch inquiry into ‘shadow banking’ that funds anti-environment industries June 24, 2019 Labour is launching an inquiry into “shadow banking” in a bid to crack down on investment that fuels industries contributing to climate change. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell announced the the investigation in a speech to UK Finance on Monday as he talked up Labour’s green credentials. McDonnell praised the actions of the Extinction Rebellion protestors [...]
Elections that were never meant to happen have just transformed British politics May 27, 2019 The elections that were never meant to happen have had an immediate and dramatic impact on British politics. The Brexit Party, which didn't exist six weeks ago, now has more seats in the European Parliament than any party from any country. The Liberal Democrats, written off as a spent force before the local elections, are [...]
Philip Hammond warns Tory leadership candidates against pursuing no-deal Brexit May 26, 2019 The Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned prospective Tory leaders not to ignore parliament by pursuing a no-deal Brexit. A number of leadership candidates, including bookies’ favourite Boris Johnson and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab have made it clear they would walk away from negotiations and leave the EU without a deal on 31 October if [...]
The two main advocates of nationalisation without market value compensation: Venezuela and Corbyn’s Labour Party May 15, 2019 Labour's shadow chancellor can be quite charming when he wants to be. He can also be quite thuggish, and has yet to apologise for his comments about “lynching” former Tory minister Esther McVey. But it was charming John who spoke to an audience of CEOs earlier this week, during which he was asked by one [...]