Unions slam government’s ‘appalling decision’ to award freeport contract to firm behind P&O Ferries sackings March 27, 2023 Trade unions have hit out at the UK government over its decision to let the company that owns P&O Ferries run the new Thames Freeport development – after the Dubai-owned shipping company “chose” to break the law by firing nearly 800 staff last year. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak slammed the government’s “appalling decision” to [...]
SNP leadership race: Humza Yousaf wins battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon March 27, 2023 Humza Yousaf has been selected as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) after an acrimonious race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as first minister. Yousaf, the SNP’s health secretary, 37, won against rival Kate Forbes, 32, in the second round of voting, after no candidate reached a majority in the first round. He secured 26,032 [...]
FTSE firms writing ‘ethical codes’ in droves – but few actually using them, report finds March 27, 2023 More FTSE firms than ever before have codes of ethics in place but few are using them to guide day-to-day decision making, a new corporate non-profit report has warned. Research by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) found 88 per cent of FTSE 100 companies have now adopted a code of ethics, City A.M. can [...]
‘Tragedy’ if John Lewis ownership changes, says ex-boss March 26, 2023 John Lewis changing its ownership model would be “a tragedy”, a former top boss has said. Reports last week suggested the retailer is considering ending its fully staff-owned structure, with the partnership’s chairwoman, Sharon White, exploring plans to sell a minority stake. West Midlands mayor Andy Street, John Lewis managing director until 2016, acknowledged the [...]
Ahead of tomorrow’s result, all SNP leadership hopefuls have net negative ratings March 26, 2023 All three SNP leadership candidates have an overall negative favourability rating, according to recent polling, as the party prepares to announce Nicola Sturgeon’s successor tomorrow. Neither Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes or Ash Regan have a net positive rating among the Scottish public, researchers at Ipsos found in a snap poll held between March 17 and [...]
MPs should ‘put public service first’ after second jobs sting, Michael Gove says March 26, 2023 Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove said today that MPs must “put public service first” after undercover reporting revealed a handful of MPs were willing to provide advice to a foreign company in return for sizeable fees. Politicians Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng were left red-faced after anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys released footage of them [...]
UK suffering worst living standards squeeze on record, OBR boss warns March 26, 2023 Brits’ spending power won’t recover to pre-pandemic levels for another half decade, the boss of the UK’s economic watchdog has warned. The UK is experiencing the “biggest squeeze on living standards we’ve faced in this country on record”, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) chairman Richard Hughes said today. His stark warning came after the regulator’s [...]
New laws introduced to boost ship workers’ pay in bid to close P&O Ferries loophole March 24, 2023 In wake of the P&O Ferries scandal, new laws have been introduced to ensure seafarers with close links to Britain are paid the national minimum wage. The move has been taken in a bid to improve working conditions on ships after P&O Ferries decision to fire 800 of its staff last year. Shipowners will now [...]
Keir Starmer follows Rishi Sunak and publishes tax return March 23, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has published his tax returns, showing he paid £67,000 in tax over the last year. The Labour leader paid £51,547 in 2020/21 and £67,033 in 2021/22, he said, which is a total of £118,607. It came just a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak published his own tax returns, which revealed he [...]
Parliament bans TikTok as its CEO is grilled by US Congress over China data security concerns March 23, 2023 TikTok is to be blocked from all parliamentary devices amid rising concerns over data security and links to the Chinese government. The social media video sharing app will be blocked from use on all phones issued by the House of Commons and the House of Lords – just weeks after the government took a similar [...]