Groping allegation against Tory mayoral hopeful Korski ‘very serious’, No 10 says June 28, 2023 Downing Street has described the groping allegation against Tory mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski as “very serious”. No 10 also indicated prime minister Rishi Sunak would urge any further complainants to come forward. Television producer Daisy Goodwin made a formal complaint after she publicly accused the former adviser of sexually assaulting her during a meeting in [...]
Rishi Sunak should cut national insurance and make investment relief permanent, report argues June 28, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt should cut companies’ national insurance contributions and make the temporary business investment tax relief permanent, an influential think tank has argued in a radical blueprint to overhaul the UK’s tax regime. Employers’ should be subjected to a 12.8 per cent national insurance levy, one percentage point lower [...]
Johnson’s ‘unambiguous’ breach over Daily Mail column shows need for reform, Tory peer warns June 27, 2023 Boris Johnson’s “unambiguous rule breach” over his Daily Mail column shows the urgent need to reform the approach to post-ministerial jobs, the government has been warned. Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) chairman Lord Eric Pickles wrote to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden with his concerns today. The Conservative peer said the former prime minister’s [...]
Jeremy Hunt to sign ‘milestone’ financial services agreement with EU June 27, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will today sign a long-awaited deal with the European Union on improving regulatory cooperation for financial services, in a move that Hunt said will boost the City as a “global financial services hub”. Hunt and EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the European Commission [...]
Covid-19 inquiry: No-deal Brexit prep stopped intensive care drugs ‘running out’, says Matt Hancock June 27, 2023 Preparations for a no-deal Brexit meant vital intensive care drugs were prevented from running out during the pandemic, Matt Hancock has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Crucial medicines were “within hours of running out” in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the former health secretary said while giving evidence to the UK’s official inquiry. Asked [...]
Let’s all hand our cash over to the Treasury to pay off UK’s £2.5 trillion debt pile (not) June 27, 2023 Here’s a fun fact. If everyone in the UK worked for a year and gave all their earnings to the Treasury, the government could nearly repay the country’s more than £2.5 trillion debt pile. Alright, that’s oversimplifying the equation. But it does illustrate a principle in economics that often gets lost in the deluge of [...]
NHS bosses urged to ‘get a grip’ as report finds health service falling behind peers June 26, 2023 NHS leaders have been urged to “get a grip on budgets” as researchers suggested Britain’s health service was falling behind comparable nations. Health think tank the King’s Fund found the UK had “below-average health spending per person” and “lags behind other countries in its capital investment”. And hospitals have “substantially fewer key physical resources” like [...]
AI can be ‘force for good’ but needs regulation, says Keir Starmer June 26, 2023 Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a “force for good”, Sir Keir Starmer has told a UK-India summit in Westminster. The Labour leader said the invention was an “incredible form of technology” being developed “at pace” – but that the UK needed to develop regulations to monitor its application. Speaking at the UK India week 2023 [...]
Jeremy Hunt to meet CMA, Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom over ‘profiteering’ concerns June 26, 2023 Jeremy Hunt will ask industry regulators what they are doing about any companies exploiting rampant inflation by raising prices. The Chancellor is set to meet the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the watchdogs for energy, water and communications on Wednesday. He will press them on whether there is a profiteering problem in their sectors [...]
Chechen leader says his forces are ready to help put down Wagner mutiny June 24, 2023 Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Saturday his forces were ready to help put down a mutiny by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and to use harsh methods if necessary. Kadyrov in a statement posted on Telegram called Prigozhin’s behaviour “a knife in the back” and called on Russian soldiers not to give in to [...]