Tory heavyweights endorse former Boris Johnson adviser to run for London mayor April 25, 2023 A former Downing Street adviser to Boris Johnson has emerged as the Conservative front runner for London mayor next year after earning the backing of three party heavyweights. Energy secretary Grant Shapps and Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker, along with former home secretary Priti Patel, announced on Monday they were endorsing Samuel Kasumu to [...]
Watchdog extends investigation into PM’s declaration of interests April 24, 2023 Parliament’s standards watchdog has expanded the investigation into Rishi Sunak’s potential breach of the rules on declaring financial interests. The Prime Minister is also being investigated over whether he broke the MPs’ code of conduct relating to disclosing details surrounding active inquiries, it emerged on Monday. Standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg opened the inquiry following concerns [...]
Keir Starmer: Diane Abbott’s racism comments were ‘antisemitic’ April 24, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Diane Abbott’s comments about racism as “antisemitic” and said they will never be accepted in the party. Abbott had the Labour whip suspended after comments suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”. Sir Keir would not say if Abbott should not [...]
Sunak pledges £100m ‘world leader’ AI boost as firms wooed at business summit April 24, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has insisted his government is undertaking “the most transformative changes to financial services regulations since the Big Bang”. Sunak insisted the Financial Services and Markets Bill was a “very significant piece of legislation”. He pledged that once the law was implemented, Solvency II reforms would “unlock tens of billions of pounds [...]
Investors snub Sizewell C nuclear power station despite ‘sustainable’ status April 23, 2023 The government is struggling to attract investors to the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear power station, according to a report.
UK borrowing tipped to have jumped to £23bn in March but Hunt and Sunak are on course to hit OBR forecasts April 23, 2023 Britain is tipped to have borrowed nearly £23bn last month to help pay for capping energy bills at £2,500, according to City analysts’ consensus forecast. Fresh numbers out from the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday are expected to show the gap between what the government generates in revenue from taxes and spends on public [...]
Diane Abbott has Labour whip suspended after ‘offensive’ remarks April 23, 2023 Diane Abbott has had the Labour Party whip suspended following remarks suggesting Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”. Abbott made the claims in response to an article on the issue of racism in Britain today and has apologised “for any anguish caused”. The chief whip has removed the [...]
Shrinking workforce limiting UK economic growth, MPs warn April 21, 2023 The UK’s shrinking and ageing population is limiting economic growth, with “outdated and static” working practices, MPs have warned. An “exodus” of over-50s from the labour market has worsened shortages, a cross-party House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee report said. Chairman Darren Jones said: “Our shrinking and ageing UK labour market, and [...]
SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk owned rocket – the biggest and most powerful ever – explodes minutes after take off April 20, 2023 SpaceX’s Starship – the biggest and most powerful space rocket ever developed – has exploded minutes after blasting off. The launch, which took place from SpaceX’s Starbase in the US state of Texas, came after a stuck valve forced a launch attempt on Monday to be aborted. While Thursday’s launch saw the rocket leave the [...]
Jeremy Hunt throws out concerns over job losses and insists UK needs to “win” AI race April 20, 2023 Jeremy Hunt said he doesn’t “buy” the argument that artificial intelligence (AI) could create job losses as he insisted the UK should push ahead in harnessing the technology. Speaking at the Politico TechUK launch event in London, the Chancellor said use of artificial intelligence in technology was crucial to tackling the UK’s “growth challenge,” as [...]