Gove planning shake-up: ‘We need housing today, not tomorrow’ July 24, 2023 Michael Gove will loosen planning laws to allow vacant shops to be converted into homes as part of his latest efforts to tackle the UK’s housing crisis. On Monday the minister for housing and levelling up revealed a slew of planning reforms as well as a further commitment to building over 1m new homes across [...]
Explainer: What of Ukraine’s grain now? July 20, 2023 First, Russia pulled out of the grain deal which had been guaranteeing safe exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Moscow then started attacking grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odessa, one of the major ports in Ukraine. Missile attacks so far have destroyed around 60,000 tonnes of grain. Joseph Borrell, the head of [...]
Explainer: Sunak’s plan to house asylum seekers on ships and barges is sinking July 19, 2023 Rishi Sunak’s plan to house asylum seekers on ships and barges is dwindling – or rather, slowly sinking. The government had to return two cruise ships it had acquired yesterday after it found nowhere to dock them. Last month, while giving more details on the Bibby Stockholm, the barge arrived in Portland yesterday that will [...]
Siesta! As even Sicilian sun-seekers complain, we need to change our working hours July 18, 2023 As a heatwave sweeps across Europe, we should be thinking of the impact these temperatures have on workers and productivity - and adapt before it reaches London too, writes Elena Siniscalco
Explainer: A scoresheet on Rishi’s five pledges July 14, 2023 With Parliament’s summer recess approaching, it is usually a good time to draw some conclusions on the current political situation. For the prime minister, it doesn’t look good. Rishi Sunak started the year outlining his five pledges for 2023: halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce the national debt, cut NHS waiting lists and stop the [...]
Explainer: High Court rules agency workers regulations during strikes unlawful July 13, 2023 Companies will be prevented from hiring agency staff to fill in for striking workers, the High Court ruled today in a further blow to Rishi Sunak’s government. From August 10, employers won’t be able to recruit agency workers to fill in for striking employees. The regulations were first introduced last summer, amid a wave of [...]
Michael Gove’s housing department hands £1.9bn back to the Treasury in ‘blow to developers’ July 12, 2023 Michael Gove’s department returned £1.9bn of housing money to the Treasury claiming it was unable to spend it, leaving industry insiders baffled. The sum comprised money to pay for new house building projects, including affordable homes, and to conduct building safety remediations. Joshua Bond, founder and managing director of Bond Land, called Gove’s move “the [...]
The Interview: A hacker vigilante who could break the Internet July 12, 2023 Elena Siniscalco interviews Chris Wysopal, a friendly neighbourhood hacker who also happened to crack into Microsoft back in the '90s
Explainer: Sunak fights with Labour to be Joe Biden’s favourite July 11, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden had a jolly time together on Monday, meeting up in London to consolidate what the US president described as a “rock solid relationship”. So our prime minister might have felt a bit betrayed today when he discovered that Labour is also soothing our friends across the pond. Indeed Nick Thomas-Symonds, [...]
A ‘be British’ mandate won’t make up for seasonal workers picking our fruit July 11, 2023 Bringing back "pick for Britain" won't solve the problems of seasonal workers who come to the UK and find a substandard job market ripe for exploitation, writes Elena Siniscalco
