‘I am just a regular guy’: Michael Gove rejects Downing Street’s ‘snake’ label July 12, 2022 Former government minister and Tory heavyweight Michael Gove has denied that he is a “snake” after being described as such by No 10 sources after being sacked as communities secretary by Boris Johnson last week. The Prime Minister dramatically fired Gove last Wednesday after his Cabinet rival told him that it was time for him [...]
UK’s audit watchdog sets out plans to shakeup Britain’s accounting sector July 12, 2022 The UK’s accountancy watchdog has vowed to put in place a raft of new measures to increase standards in the UK’s audit sector in a bid to pave the way for the UK government’s long-awaited reforms. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on Tuesday published a paper outlining its plans to revise existing codes, strengthen [...]
Victims’ charity calls for ‘urgent’ investment to cut court backlog as barristers’ strike continues into third week July 11, 2022 A leading victims’ support charity has called on the government to take “urgent action” to cut the court backlog by upping investment in the criminal justice system – as criminal barristers prepared for their third week of strikes. Diana Fawcett, chief executive of Victim Support chief said “court delays and cancelled hearings” are having [...]
Striking barristers should accept government’s ‘generous offer,’ justice minister says July 6, 2022 Justice secretary James Cartlidge has called on striking barristers to “reconsider” their actions, after claiming the government’s current legal aid offer is “generous” enough. Speaking in the House of Commons, Cartlidge accused “those engaged in action” of “threatening to increase waiting times” as he doubled down on existing plans to hike legal aid fees by [...]
Whitehall spending on City law firm advice increases to more than £700,000 a week July 6, 2022 The UK government spent more than £700,000 a week on advice from City law firms last year, according to new figures which show Whitehall’s legal fee budget increased by a fifth compared to the previous year. The government spent more than £36.5m on advice from major law firms in 2021-22, in paying out weekly sums [...]
UK mental health crisis sends disability benefits bill soaring, IFS says July 6, 2022 The UK’s mental health plight has led to a rise in disability benefits spending as claims increased. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies today showed that the number of people on disability benefits rose to 6 per cent of the working age population in 2020-2021, at 2.2m, with spending soaring by 70 per cent. [...]
Pound still at lowest level since start of pandemic amid government chaos July 6, 2022 The British pound is at its lowest level since the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020 as the UK government faces a political crisis. The pound has slid 0.6% today to $1.1883 as a wave of ministers resigned from Boris Johnson’s government. Sterling initially dropped more than a cent to below $1.20 for [...]
Fire Bridges Union wins permission to challenge govt’s pension reforms via judicial review July 5, 2022 Public sector workers’ unions have been given permission to challenge a UK government’s pensions policy through a judicial review. A coalition of unions, led by the UK’s Fire Brigades Union (FBU), will be allowed to challenge the government’s decision to force members to pay for changes to public sector pensions schemes, instead of footing the [...]
MoJ denies telling court staff to hand over names of striking barristers July 4, 2022 The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has denied telling court staff to name striking barristers, after the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) threatened legal action over claims that any such instruction would breach UK data protection laws. An MoJ spokesperson said any claims the Justice Secretary or the MoJ told court staff to report the names of barristers who fail [...]
Covid loan fraudsters should turn themselves in to avoid harsher penalties, lawyers say July 4, 2022 Individuals who defrauded the government’s Covid support schemes should consider turning themselves in to avoid even harsher penalties, amid a far-reaching crackdown on those responsible for making fraudulent claims, lawyers have said. The comments come after figures from the UK’s Insolvency Service showed the executive agency has struck off a total of 179 company directors, [...]