Gavin Williamson confirms summer holidays may be shortened for English pupils March 7, 2021 Education secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed that English pupils may have shorter summer holidays or longer school days to make up for days missed this academic year. English pupils will return to the classrooms tomorrow in what Williamson labelled today “a massive logistical exercise”. Pupils will be required to take Covid tests twice a week [...]
Exclusive: UK to begin backdoor push to get Joe Biden to dump Trump’s steel tariffs March 4, 2021 The UK will begin a push to get Joe Biden to ditch Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs on British manufacturers, after the US today moved to de-escalate a long-running transatlantic trade dispute. The government is hoping the US’ decision to suspend a raft of tariffs on British goods, like Scotch whisky and Stilton cheese, [...]
UK government reaches six-figure payout settlement with ex-civil servant after Priti Patel row March 4, 2021 The government has reached a payout settlement with the Home Office’s former top civil servant after he claimed home secretary Priti Patel orchestrated a campaign to oust him from his job. Former Home Office permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam said today he had settled with the government out of court, after previously suing for unfair [...]
Sadiq Khan broke half of 2016 election promises, claims Tory rival Shaun Bailey March 4, 2021 Sadiq Khan has broken just over half of his 2016 campaign promises, Conservative mayoral rival Shaun Bailey has claimed. Bailey will today launch an advertising claiming Khan has not delivered on 126 of his 244 manifesto promises, however Labour has called the allegation a “complete work of fiction”. Bailey cites a list of manifesto promises [...]
Sadiq Khan rules out driverless trains as a part of next TfL bailout March 4, 2021 Sadiq Khan has said today that the government will not try to force Transport for London (TfL) to implement driverless trains as a part of current bailout negotiations. Khan told a group of reporters at his re-election campaign launch that the government had dropped any request to bring in driverless trains, after initially asking for [...]
US suspends tariffs on Scotch whisky and Stilton cheese March 4, 2021 The US has today announced it will suspend a series of tariffs on a range of British goods, including Scotch whisky and Stilton cheese, for four months in a de-escalation of a long-running trade conflict. The UK and US will try to broker a longer term agreement over the next four months to put to [...]
Sadiq Khan pledges to spend more on London economy in election campaign launch March 4, 2021 Sadiq Khan will today launch his re-election campaign by promising to spend more of his £16bn City Hall Budget on the capital’s economic recovery, including creating a new fund to get people back to London’s West End. Khan will say in a speech later this afternoon that he will focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs” if [...]
Budget 2021: Which expected policies were not announced? March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak’s Budget was a tale of two halves, with the chancellor spending big over the next two years before implementing a series of tax rises in the years after. Many of the policies announced were already leaked days or weeks in advance, with the corporation tax rise to 25 per cent for the UK’s [...]
Brexit disruption to shave 0.5 per cent off GDP as UK starts its recovery March 3, 2021 Post-Brexit disruption to UK-EU trade will reduce the UK’s first quarter GDP growth by 0.5 per cent, according to the government’s budgetary watchdog. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said in its forecast today that customs disruptions at the EU border and a drop in the number of lorries travelling between the UK and EU [...]
Budget 2021: Big business to pay off UK’s Covid debt burden with £45bn corporation tax rises March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak will make the UK’s big businesses pay off the country’s Covid spending, with £45bn of corporation tax rises to hit companies with profits over £250,000 the hardest. Corporation tax will rise from 19 per cent to 25 per cent by 2023 for UK companies with annual profits of £250,000 or higher, however a [...]
