Boris Johnson: Starmer the ‘manacled gimp of Brussels’ after ‘one-sided’ EU trade deal May 19, 2025 Boris Johnson has slammed Sir Keir Starmer as an “orange ball-chewing manacled gimp of Brussels”, in a colourful post on X. The former Prime Minister repeatedly referred to his Labour successor as “two-tier Keir”, suggesting that the “hopelessly one sided” deal would render the UK “the non-voting punk of the EU Commission”. The intervention follows [...]
Natwest and Lloyds to cash in as Reeves hints at ring-fencing reform May 19, 2025 Rachel Reeves has told top bank bosses she is “open-minded” to ditch the ring-fencing regime imposed on major banks. The Chancellor was lobbied by the chiefs of HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander to scrap the 15-year-old legislation last month. Lenders slammed the system – which requires firms to keep their retail bank operations separate from [...]
Inflation set to ramp up after ‘Awful April’ May 19, 2025 Inflation is expected to have risen above three per cent last month in data which will reflect the costly impacts of what has been dubbed ‘Awful April’ due to tax rises and bill hikes. A Bloomberg poll of economists has predicted inflation to come in at 3.3 per cent, a sharp spike from March when [...]
Terms emerge on UK-EU ‘reset’ talks May 19, 2025 Decisions on security, the youth mobility scheme, fishing and agriculture are anticipated to emerge from today’s UK-EU “reset” summit. These talks are part of a routine five year review of the UK-EU trade and cooperation agreement, which was signed in 2020. While agreements on key aspects of the deal have been completed, Trade Secretary Jonathan [...]
Legal Aid cyber attack: Huge amount of personal data stolen May 19, 2025 The hackers behind the cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency downloaded a significant amount of personal data of those who applied for aid
Government to clamp down on ‘buy now pay later’ services such as Klarna and Clearpay May 19, 2025 Fintechs including Klarna and Clearpay providing ‘buy now pay later’ services will face fresh regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after years of wrangling and delays. New rules will require financial services providers to conduct affordability checks as part of efforts to make banking standards more consistent. Borrowers will also be able to make [...]
Keir Starmer reaches tentative EU trade deal ahead of summit May 19, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has agreed a tentative trade deal with the EU, the biggest shake-up of Britain’s relationship with the bloc since Brexit. The UK-EU deal is expected to involve a new trading arrangement and a border deal and could extend to a new security and defence pact, which could open up access to the [...]
The defence industry shouldn’t expect a gold rush May 19, 2025 Despite all their talk, Labour's promises won't mean a gold rush for the defence industry, writes Eliot Wilson.
Labour to back use of ChatGPT and AI in schools May 19, 2025 The UK will back international guidelines on using generative AI such as ChatGPT in schools, the Education Secretary is set to announce. In a speech to the Education World Forum in London on Monday, Bridget Phillipson will aim to put Britain at the forefront of a “revolution” in education technology. As well as funding efforts [...]
Elton John slams government as ‘losers’ over AI copyright row May 18, 2025 Sir Elton John described the Government as “absolute losers” and said he felt “incredibly betrayed” after calls by peers to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to include greater copyright protections against artificial intelligence (AI) were resisted. Earlier this week, the House of Lords supported an amendment designed to ensure copyright holders would have [...]