All you need to know about this week’s by-election battles July 17, 2023 With Parliament set to break up for summer recess this Thursday, MPs of all stripes are preparing to head back to their constituencies for the summer. But before the long August holidays, there could be some political upsets in store. Voters in three constituencies of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Selby and Ainsty and Somerton and [...]
‘He doesn’t like women’: Tory hopeful Susan Hall gets personal in bid to unseat Sadiq Khan July 17, 2023 With three by-elections approaching, the race between the now-two Tory hopefuls vying to take on Sadiq Khan in the 2024 mayoral election has taken something of a backseat. But following the exit of former No10 advisor Daniel Korski, the odds have shortened for both those standing. Former Conservative group leader in the London Assembly Susan [...]
Sunak accepts six per cent public sector pay rises but warns it ‘will cost all of you as taxpayers’ July 13, 2023 Government has accepted recommendations for millions of public sector workers to receive pay rises of six per cent or more, Rishi Sunak has announced. The prime minister said today reports from independent pay bodies calling for public sector pay rises of between five and 6.5 per cent for millions of medics, teachers and civil servants [...]
Jeremy Hunt on track to ‘obliterate’ fiscal rules as OBR warns of much higher debt bill July 13, 2023 Jeremy Hunt is on track to blow out his financial goals due to the Bank of England hiking interest rates aggressively to bring down sticky inflation, according to new forecasts out today from the UK’s spending watchdog. Payments to investors who have purchased UK government debt are poised to rise more than £90bn above what [...]
Truss suggests mini-budget may have paid off in the long-term July 12, 2023 Liz Truss appeared to suggest her mini-budget may have paid off long-term as her new taskforce warned the UK risks lagging behind other nations unless it tackles stagnation. Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister likened sluggish growth in recent years to a “boiling a frog situation” as she attended an event to launch the Growth Commission. Members [...]
Sunak says Ukraine ‘belongs’ in NATO as Wallace warns UK is ‘not Amazon’ for weapons delivery July 12, 2023 Rishi Sunak told Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky he belonged in NATO as he assured him “real progress” had been made on security guarantees for Kyiv in its fightback against Russia. The prime minister met the Ukrainian president on the fringes of the NATO summit in Vilnius. Zelensky has been left frustrated by the reluctance of [...]
Michael Gove’s housing department hands £1.9bn back to the Treasury in ‘blow to developers’ July 12, 2023 Michael Gove’s department returned £1.9bn of housing money to the Treasury claiming it was unable to spend it, leaving industry insiders baffled. The sum comprised money to pay for new house building projects, including affordable homes, and to conduct building safety remediations. Joshua Bond, founder and managing director of Bond Land, called Gove’s move “the [...]
PMQs sketch: A trip down memory lane July 12, 2023 If you’re ever in need of a history lesson, there are worse places to head than the storied and ancient House of Commons for a PMQs. But when it comes to political debate, we tend to hope our leaders will have their fingers on the pulse of the nation. Not so during this week’s Prime [...]
Starmer more trusted to build a strong economy than Sunak, poll finds July 11, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has gained a seven point lead over Rishi Sunak on being trusted to build a strong economy, a poll of voters has found. Based on whether the public trusted them on the economy, the Labour Party leader scored 39 per cent compared to the Prime Minister’s 32 per cent, while just 29 [...]
Biden hails US-UK relationship as he meets Sunak at No10 July 10, 2023 US President Joe Biden hailed the “rock-solid” relationship between the US and the UK as he met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Downing Street. The US President praised the closeness of ties between the two countries as he and the Prime Minister held talks in the garden of No10. Biden, whose short layover in London [...]