Government offers extension of emergency TfL funding deal until May March 18, 2021 The government has today offered to extend its emergency funding deal with Transport for London (TfL) until May, ensuring that services will be able to continue running. The proposed deal would be TfL’s third bailout in the past year, after the body’s revenue plummeted by more than 90 per cent last March during the first [...]
Hidden cuts in Rishi Sunak’s Budget to deliver ‘second austerity’, says IFS March 18, 2021 Rishi Sunak’s Budget is set to cause a “second, sharp dose of austerity” thanks to £4bn of hidden cuts, according to new analysis by a leading economic think tank. The Institute for Fiscal Studies today said there were extensive public service cuts buried in the Budget, which will see funding for the Home Office, HM [...]
Covid-19 vaccine shortage: UK will face ‘significant reduction’ in supply from 29 March March 17, 2021 Covid-19 vaccine shortage: UK will face 'significant reduction' in supply from 29 March
Dominic Cummings’ committee hearing shows why he didn’t last in government March 17, 2021 Dominic Cummings’ Westminster committee hearing today was a vintage performance. One for the purists, Cummings hit on some of his favourite topics as he lashed out at the Whitehall blob, name dropped obscure scientific figures and made a case for Aria, the UK’s new science agency. As he spoke of the need for “very odd people” [...]
George Osborne hits out at Tory ‘hotheads’ who want UK-China ‘Cold War’ March 17, 2021 George Osborne has praised Boris Johnson for “seeing off the hotheads” in the Tory party who are calling for a more aggressive UK stance toward China. Osborne said he saw “a lot of continuity” between Johnson’s China policy, announced in yesterday’s integrated defence and foreign policy review, and his and David Cameron’s, which built stronger [...]
Dominic Cummings: New £800m Aria scientific agency needs ‘very odd people’ in charge March 17, 2021 The UK’s new £800m Aria scientific agency needs “extreme freedom” from Whitehall oversight and should be run by “very odd people”, according to former Number 10 aide Dominic Cummings. Cummings told a parliamentary committee that the new agency – formally announced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) last month – that [...]
Government plans to change mayor of London elections to First Past the Post March 16, 2021 The government has today laid out plans to change voting in the mayor of London election and other local elections to First past the Post like in General Elections. Priti Patel today said the Home Office, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Housing would “change the voting system for all Combined Authority mayors, the mayor of [...]
Half of Londoners think Sadiq Khan has not done enough to improve London’s affordability March 16, 2021 New polling shows more than half of Londoners think Sadiq Khan has not done enough to make London more affordable as his near 10 per cent council tax rise begins to take effect across the capital.
City minister calls for ‘responsible capitalism’ in financial services sector March 16, 2021 The UK’s financial services sector should move toward a more “responsible” form of capitalism that takes into account a broader ranger of interests and not just shareholders, according to City minister John Glen. Glen wrote today that the Square Mile was “ideally placed to showcase this responsible capitalism” through, but that firms should “reject some [...]
UK says Russia is its ‘most acute threat’ as China tensions dialled down March 16, 2021 The UK government has today warned that Russia is its “most acute threat”, while also potentially extending an olive branch to China after escalating tensions over the past year. The government’s long-awaited integrated review of defence, foreign and development policy outlined a plan to pivot away from Europe and toward the Indo-Pacific in a landmark [...]
