New international trade secretary to call for easier online trade in first speech September 20, 2021 The new international trade secretary will today outline a five-point plan to make it easier for businesses to digitally sell their products overseas. Anne-Marie Trevelyan will use her first speech since being appointed to the role to call for a reduction to “digital barriers” from “countries who take a protectionist approach” at London Tech Week. [...]
New poll: 53 per cent of UK thinks Brexit deal has ‘created more problems than it solved’ September 20, 2021 More than half the UK believes Boris Johnson’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement “has created more problems than it [has] solved”, according to new polling. The survey by Opinium on behalf of Best for Britain, an anti-Brexit think tank, found just 15 per cent of people think it has done the opposite. The survey also found that [...]
Xi Jinping yet to confirm Cop26 attendance, says Sharma September 19, 2021 Chinese premier Xi Jinping has not yet confirmed that he will attend the United Nations Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow this year, Alok Sharma has said. Sharma, the Cop26 president, held two days of talks earlier this year in China in an attempt to cajole the country’s leadership to commit to the landmark summit. [...]
Former BoE chief economist Andy Haldane to lead levelling up agenda September 19, 2021 Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane has been appointed by Boris Johnson to head up a new taskforce charged with leading the government’s levelling up agenda. Haldane will be head of the new Levelling Up Taskforce, which will sit in a revamped housing ministry under Michael Gove that will be titled the Department [...]
Sadiq Khan says ‘London will always lag behind’ rest of UK on vaccines take-up September 19, 2021 Sadiq Khan has said London will “always lag behind” the rest of the UK on vaccines take-up as the capital continues to trail all other English regions. The mayor of London today said London’s older and more transient population made vaccinating the capital more difficult, but defended the rollout as more advanced than in Paris [...]
Alok Sharma says there is ‘no immediate concern’ about winter energy shortages September 19, 2021 Alok Sharma has insisted there are “no immediate concerns” about potential energy shortages this winter amid warnings of a second winter of discontent. The Cop26 president, who sits in cabinet, said today that “we don’t see any risks going into winter”. Business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is set to hold crunch discussions with the [...]
Reshuffle day two: Jesse Norman sacked as Treasury minister September 16, 2021 Boris Johnson continues his reshuffle today, after a major shakeup to his top team yesterday afternoon. Johnson will fill dozens of ministerial roles that sit under the secretary of state in each department. 17.56 International trade minister sacked Trade minister Graham Stuart has been sacked, along with two others in the latest announcement. Stuart had [...]
Brexit: EU finserv groups call for extension to City clearing house access September 16, 2021 A trio of major lobby groups for Europe’s financial services sector have called on Brussels to extend the EU’s access to London clearing houses amid warnings of financial instability. The groups wrote to the European Commission today, warning “there is a significant risk of market disruption for EU clearing members and their clients” if the [...]
Brexit: Lord David Frost outlines priorities for EU regulations bonfire September 16, 2021 The UK has launched an official review into EU regulation that is still in place in the UK, with Lord David Frost announcing that red tape on things like port services, vehicles and data rights is set to be slashed. Frost, the UK’s defacto Brexit minister, told the House of Lords that the UK had [...]
Johnson: UK, US and Australia nuclear submarine deal creates ‘inseparable’ partnership September 16, 2021 Boris Johnson has hailed the newly signed UK and US agreement to build Australian nuclear submarines as creating an “inseparable” partnership, which will “accelerate” the creation of a range of cyber and AI-based defence systems. Johnson told MPs today that the agreement will enhance “security” and ensure “regional stability” in the Indo-Pacific in thinly veiled [...]
