Chancellor to face ‘tough choices’ in delivering Spring Budget despite having to borrow £30bn less March 6, 2023 Jeremy Hunt will be forced to make tough decisions in his upcoming Budget, experts have warned, despite the Chancellor having considerably more wiggle room than previously thought. Improvements in the state of the British economy mean Jeremy Hunt will have to borrow £30bn less than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR’s) November forecast showed, according [...]
Keir Starmer should publish Sue Gray WhatsApps, Tories say, amid pro-Labour poll March 5, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer should publish any WhatsApp messages with Sue Gray ahead of her becoming his chief of staff, a Conservative minister has said. Starmer should publish his messages with the civil servant and partygate investigator to clear up questions about her move to the senior role, the Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris [...]
UK should restore freedom of movement, says Jean-Claude Juncker March 2, 2023 The UK should restore freedom of movement, Jean-Claude Juncker said today, adding that Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal with the EU was “a real breakthrough”. In an interview with LBC, ex-European Commission president Juncker called for Britain to have a “normal relationship” with the trading bloc, including a “kind of freedom of movement for workers”. [...]
Nadine Dorries brands partygate report a ‘stitch up’ after Sue Gray joins Starmer’s team March 2, 2023 Tory MPs have reacted to reports top civil servant Sue Gray is set to join Keir Starmer as his chief of staff, with one Boris Johnson ally branding her partygate report a “stitch up”. Gray has quit her civil service job and is reportedly set to join the Labour leader’s team. Nadine Dorries, former culture [...]
Sue Gray, civil servant who chaired inquiry into Boris Johnson ‘partygate’, reportedly hired as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff March 2, 2023 Top civil servant Sue Gray who carried out the partygate inquiry has reportedly been hired as Keir Starmer’s new chief of staff. Gray has quit her Cabinet Office post, according to the PA news agency, and is reportedly set to take up the key role in Sir Keir’s operation. It comes as Labour tries to [...]
Boris Johnson says he will find it ‘very difficult’ to vote for Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal March 2, 2023 Boris Johnson has said he will “find it very difficult to vote for” Rishi Sunak’s deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. The former Prime Minister has raised concerns about Sunak’s Windsor Framework which aims to resolve the power-sharing deadlock in Stormont. In a Westminster speech today, he said: “I’m going to find it [...]
Matt Hancock leaked Whatsapps not ‘matter’ for data breach inquiry, says regulator March 2, 2023 Matt Hancock’s leaked Whatsapps about the Covid-19 pandemic are not a subject for a data breach investigation “at this stage”, a top regulator has said. Journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who worked with former health secretary Hancock on his book, Pandemic Diaries, handed over thousands of Whatsapp messages to the Telegraph. The paper published claims including that [...]
Law Society takes government to court over solicitors’ legal aid fees March 1, 2023 The Law Society is seeking to force the UK government to give criminal solicitors a 15 per cent pay hike by taking the matter to court. The legal sector trade body is calling on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to give criminal solicitors a pay rise that matches the 15 per cent hike given to [...]
Small businesses call on Hunt to tackle ‘childcare crisis’ as economic impact grows March 1, 2023 One of the UK’s leading business groups has called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to immediately tackle the “childcare crisis” in the upcoming budget as the high cost of childcare is increasingly forcing parents out of the workforce. Childcare providers face insufficient funding, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) told City A.M., and are either having [...]
Labour to reform apprenticeship levy, Angela Rayner tells business leaders March 1, 2023 Labour will reform the unpopular apprenticeship levy, Angela Rayner pledged at a key business summit today. The scheme, which firms have described as a “£3.5bn mistake”, means companies with a payroll of £3m or above have to put aside 0.5 per cent to spend on apprenticeships. But firms say the rules around training types mean [...]