Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges Theresa May to avoid no-deal Brexit December 1, 2018 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has today asked Prime Minister Theresa May to do what she can to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Speaking at a bi-lateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina, Abe praised May for striking a deal with the EU. “I would like to once again ask for your [...]
Crossrail and HS2 chair Sir Terry Morgan faces sack after costs spiral December 1, 2018 The chair of the Crossrail and HS2 infrastructure projects reportedly faces the sack over fears the rail link between London and Birmingham could exceed its £56bn budget by a large margin. Sir Terry Morgan has only been chair of HS2 for four months but could now be fired within weeks after his poor performance was [...]
Sam Gyimah resigns in protest at Theresa May’s “naive” Brexit deal December 1, 2018 Science and universities minister, Sam Gyimah, became the sixth minister to resign in protest at Theresa May's Brexit deal when he quit the government on Friday evening. It came after May announced that the UK was pulling out of the EU's Galileo satellite-navigation project, which Gyimah believes exposes the deal as "naive". The decision to pull out of the project came [...]
Donald Tusk’s message to MPs: UK cannot renegotiate Brexit deal November 30, 2018 European Council president Donald Tusk ruled out renegotiating Theresa May’s Brexit deal today, saying if parliament rejects the agreement then Britain must either crash out of the EU with no deal or abandon Brexit altogether. “A few days before the vote in the House of Commons, it is becoming more and more clear that this [...]
International trade secretary Liam Fox backs Theresa May’s Brexit deal November 30, 2018 International trade secretary Liam Fox this morning backed Theresa May’s Brexit deal as the prime minister ruled out a plan B. Leading Brexiteer Fox said he believed members of the cabinet would back the deal, despite a deeply divided parliament. Fox told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: “It is very difficult to get a deal [...]
Big ambitions and grand challenges: How the industrial strategy fares one year on November 29, 2018 It’s now a year since the industrial strategy was launched. Encompassing a 255-page tome, it laid five foundations for productivity: ideas, people, infrastructure, places and the business environment. It promised waves of sector deals between government and industry to de-risk investment and improve workers’ skills. Six such deals were announced in the first year, from automotive [...]
Ford’s Europe president says a no-deal Brexit would be an ‘absolute disaster’ for the car industry November 29, 2018 Ford's Europe, Middle East and Africa president has said a no-deal Brexit would be an "absolute disaster" for the auto industry. Speaking at a conference in London, Steven Armstrong said Ford was already "spending money on no-deal plans that we may never need" to avoid a cliff edge in which the UK leaves the EU without a [...]
A new Brexit referendum could be held on 30 May, says Justine Greening November 29, 2018 A new Brexit referendum could be held within six months, according to former Conservative cabinet minister Justine Greening. The Putney MP said today that if parliament defeats Theresa May’s Brexit deal on 11 December, wheels could be put in motion for another country-wide poll on 30 May. Such a move would see the Article 50 process [...]
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at loggerheads over whether to appear on BBC or ITV for Brexit live debate November 29, 2018 Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are to battle it out in a live head-to-head TV debate – although it is unclear whether it will take place on BBC or ITV. The Prime Minister has accepted the BBC’s offer to take part in a Brexit debate on 9 December, two days before MPs are to vote [...]
Britain and US agree new post-Brexit open skies arrangement November 29, 2018 Britain and the US have reached a deal on a new open skies aviation agreement after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. The agreement will replace the existing EU aviation agreement with the US and guarantee that planes flying from the UK will have the same access to the US as they do [...]