Varadkar signals defeat as Sinn Fein moves to form coalition February 12, 2020 Leo Varadkar has signalled his willingness to step down as Irish Taoiseach and go into opposition, as left-wing nationalists Sinn Féin move to form a coalition government following an inconclusive election result at the weekend. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, whose party won the most votes on Saturday, securing 37 seats, said on Monday [...]
‘Turf war’ threatens Treasury as No 10 prepares for reshuffle February 12, 2020 Last minute preparations for a government reshuffle were ongoing last night ahead of an expected announcement tomorrow, with speculation that the Treasury’s ministerial team could be set for a shake-up. Rishi Sunak, second-in-command, is widely tipped for a promotion to a Cabinet post elsewhere in government after impressing No. 10. Sources have, however, suggested that [...]
Boris Johnson to appoint minister to oversee HS2 as he gives rail link green light February 11, 2020 Boris Johnson has given the go-ahead for the controversial HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham, announcing he will appoint a minister to oversee the project, as he damned the current management. The Prime Minister this afternoon confirmed the government was backing HS2, which is now estimated to cost more than £100bn by completion. Read [...]
Brexit: Michel Barnier tells UK government not to ‘kid themselves’ on financial services deal February 11, 2020 The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has this morning rejected the UK government’s call for a financial services deal to be built on a long-term equivalence regime, and warned Downing Street that Brussels will “keep control”. Speaking to the European Parliament entirely in French, Barnier emphasised that it “cannot be business as usual” after the [...]
Boris Johnson to give controversial rail link HS2 backing today February 10, 2020 The Prime Minister is expected to give HS2 the green light later today, after the £100bn infrastructure project receives final sign off at this morning’s Cabinet. A decision on the controversial high speed rail link, which will run between London and Birmingham initially, before splitting onto two branches going onto Manchester and Leeds, had been [...]
Exclusive: Treasury to unveil equivalence vision for City in white paper February 10, 2020 The government will insist on the right to diverge from EU financial services regulation as part of a post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels based on equivalence. Writing in City A.M. today, chancellor Sajid Javid says the City “will no longer be a rule-taker” and reveals that ministers are working on a white paper setting out [...]
No, Jeremy Corbyn: Labour leader ‘weak, unpatriotic and too left-wing’, damning election report finds February 10, 2020 Labour’s “impossible” policies, a leader who was “stuck in the past” and a sense that the party is for “middle-class radicals” are among the reasons for the party’s electoral annihilation, according to a damning new report. Jeremy Corbyn was the single biggest factor in causing voters to defect, resulting in Boris Johnson gaining an 80-seat [...]
Boris Bridge scoping work underway, No 10 confirms February 10, 2020 A “proper piece of work” looking into the feasibility of a bridge connecting mainland Britain with Northern Ireland is being carried out, Number 10 confirmed today. The so-called Boris Bridge was first floated by the Prime Minister last year as a possible solution to the border issue caused by Brexit. However critics warned at the [...]
Bercow criticised by House of Commons as peerage row rages on February 6, 2020 Former speaker John Bercow has been attacked by the House of Commons for naming staff members in his tell-all book of his time in the chair, which was published this morning. A spokesperson for the House of Commons said: “Staff work incredibly hard to enable the effective functioning of our democracy and have a right [...]
Varadkar teeters on the brink amid Sinn Fein surge February 6, 2020 Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is teetering on the edge of defeat in Saturday’s election, with his Fine Gael party looking likely to lose out as a result of a resurgent Sinn Fein. Most recent polling puts Varadkar’s party third with 17 per cent of the vote, while Sinn Fein has support from around a quarter [...]
