‘A breath of fresh air’ vs ‘more to do’: What City grandees have to say about Sunak April 17, 2023 As Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t tire of reminding voters: expertise beyond politics can be invaluable. For the current resident behind that most famous front door, it’s so far proved an advantage. Liz Truss’ accountancy background may not have aided her short-lived leadership bout, but – for the City’s boardrooms at least – her [...]
Labour attack ad backfires to dent own reputation, polling finds April 17, 2023 Labour’s controversial attack ad, which claimed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was failing to ensure child sexual abusers serve prison time, has damaged the party in the polls, it has emerged. The divisive online ad campaign also saw the party hit out at the Conservative’s record on the justice system and at Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty’s [...]
SNP leader Humza Yousaf denies party close to bankruptcy April 16, 2023 Humza Yousaf has denied the Scottish National Party (SNP) faces bankruptcy as he confirmed forensic auditors could be appointed to investigate its finances. The first minister said a governance and transparency review would be carried out as he insisted the SNP is “solvent”. Yousaf, speaking shortly after the SNP’s National Executive Council (NEC) met, said: [...]
Top Tory donor says he won’t give Conservative party any more cash April 16, 2023 Top Tory donor and hotel mogul Sir Rocco Forte has said he won’t hand over any more cash to the Conservative Party. Speaking to GB News, the businessman, who founded the world famous Rocco Forte hotel chain, said the party no longer stands for anything he believes in and that he was “not a fan” [...]
Elon Musk working on AI tool to compete with ChatGPT April 16, 2023 Elon Musk is reportedly planning to launch an AI tool to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The billionaire founder of SpaceX and Tesla is gathering a team of AI researchers and has acquired the graphics processing units needed to produce the AI tool, the Financial Times reported. Musk is also in talks with SpaceX and Tesla investors [...]
ULEZ row continues as Sadiq Khan brands challenge by Tory councils a waste of taxpayers’ cash April 14, 2023 Conservative councils who have launched a High Court challenge against Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand London’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez) are wasting taxpayers’ money, the capital’s mayor has said. Mr Khan said London residents would prefer their payments to be invested in libraries instead. If it goes ahead, Ulez will see drivers in outer [...]
Hunt mulls pension reform amid concern older Brits not getting ‘returns they could expect’ April 14, 2023 The Chancellor has suggested the pension system needs reform to ensure people receive higher returns. Jeremy Hunt said he is concerned that pensioners are not getting “the returns that they could expect”, according to the Daily Telegraph. The Chancellor was speaking in Washington where he is attending the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund [...]
Twitter: Elon Musk launches new long-form platform allowing 10,000 characters April 14, 2023 Twitter has launched a new platform to support writers move from micro-blogging to longer-form pieces, with posts of 10,000 characters permitted. The Elon Musk-owned social media giant announced the launch of Twitter Write on Friday, offering “improvements to the writing and reading experience” for users. “Starting today, Twitter now supports Tweets up to 10,000 characters [...]
Childcare: Two in five mothers say high costs are still keeping them out of the workplace April 14, 2023 Two in five mothers feel prohibited from returning to work due to the high cost of childcare, even with Jeremy Hunt’s expanded childcare offering, a new survey of 2,000 mothers has revealed. “Nursery and childminder costs can swallow a huge chunk of new parents’ earnings, and with the current cost of living crisis squeezing every [...]
Sunak insists he is ‘low-tax’ Tory – as UK set for record burden April 13, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted he is a “low-tax Conservative” despite the UK being on course for the highest burden of the post-war years. Sunak maintained he wanted “to make sure we can lower taxes over time” but said it was vital to “get inflation down and get borrowing under control” as a first [...]