Johnson piles pressure on Sunak: No.10 insists ex-PM ‘acting in own capacity’ with plea to give Ukraine UK fighter jets February 1, 2023 Boris Johnson has piled pressure on Western leaders to supply fighter jets to Ukraine, setting up a clash with Rishi Sunak. The UK said it is not practical to provide sophisticated planes used by the RAF, such as Typhoons and F-35s, and US President Joe Biden has ruled out sending F-16 fighters. Downing Street stressed [...]
Explainer: Among rail and school strikes, how supportive is the public? February 1, 2023 Today is both the first day of a new month and the first day of a new string of cumulative strikes that will go on for much of February. Rail workers, teachers, airport and university staff and the civil service are on the picket line today. It’s been months since industrial action started its resurrection [...]
H&M axes four UK stores outside London as retailer warned it needs to ‘raise its game’ to differentiate from rival fashion chains February 1, 2023 H&M has announced plans to shutter four of its stores across the UK due to a “rapid change” in customer behaviour. None of the fashion retailers’ London sites have been impacted by the move, however stores in Hartlepool, Maidenhead, Newport in Isle of Wight and Burton are set to close. A spokesperson for H&M UK [...]
Law firms face fines or closure over ‘incompetent’ solicitors as watchdog renews crackdown February 1, 2023 The UK’s solicitors’ watchdog has warned that law firms could be fined or shut down if they fail to deal with incompetent solicitors, as it looks to take tougher action against firms and lawyers that fail to meet the regulator’s expectations. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said yesterday that it intends to “broaden the ways” [...]
British Steel ‘planning to axe 800 jobs’ despite bidding for £300m taxpayer-funded grant February 1, 2023 British Steel has been covertly planning to slash jobs despite ongoing talks with the government which could see the industrial firm receive a multi-million pound grant funded by taxpayers’ money, according to reports. The Chinese-owned group may cut 800 roles predominantly in its Scunthorpe headquarters in north Lincolnshire, Sky News has reported. The termination of [...]
Size matters: Womble Bond Dickinson merger with BDB Pitmans canned as it ‘would be more like a takeover acquisition’ February 1, 2023 Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans have scrapped plans for a merger, the firms confirmed today, as analysts suggested the relative size of the former would mean a merger would, in reality, be more like a takeover. The law firms, who first entered talks in Autumn 2022, said in a joint statement they had “decided [...]
Britishvolt: Greybull ramps up bidding frenzy for collapsed battery start-up February 1, 2023 A new potential eleventh hour bidder has emerged for Britishvolt. as suitors circle the troubled battery start-up ahead of today's deadline.
Network Rail makes new offer to RMT in bid to avert more strikes: Pay increase stays but hours reduced February 1, 2023 Network Rail has tweaked the offer it made last month to the union RMT in a bid to avert more strike action. Chief negotiator Tim Shoveller sent yesterday an email to staff, saying the new offer “added some fresh proposals.” These include cutting down the hours of maintenance staff from 40 to 35 per week, [...]
London, Dubai and New York top rankings as most crypto ready cities in the world February 1, 2023 London has been named as the world's leading crypto hub in a detailed report researching the most cryptocurrency-ready cities.
PMQs sketch: Starmer’s speechwriters on strike February 1, 2023 Train drivers, teachers, civil servants and apparently Keir Starmer’s speechwriters are on strike today. It’s the only explanation for the Labour leader trying yet again to get a non-answer out of Rishi Sunak about when he knew Nadhim Zahawi paid a penalty to HMRC. Trying to point out that Sunak probably did know the thing [...]
