Scotland’s public spending lead over England and Wales increases December 6, 2020 Scotland’s public spending advantage over England and Wales has extended to record levels, after a raft of new spending announcements by Nicola Sturgeon. Sturgeon recently announced an extension of free school meals and a pay rise for health workers, meaning Scotland now spends £2,000 per person more on public services than England and Wales. This [...]
Eustice: UK has three days to close Brexit deal after talks have gone ‘backwards’ December 6, 2020 Brexit trade talks went “backwards” last week and there are only a few days left to decide if a deal can be struck, according to the UK’s environment secretary. George Eustice said today that the UK will definitively have to walk away from talks in three days if the UK and EU can’t “resolve these [...]
Climate change: UK sets new 2030 carbon emissions target December 3, 2020 Boris Johnson has set a drastic new climate change target in a bid to reach its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The government’s new target will see the UK try to cut CO2 emissions by 68 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990. The UK’s previous 2030 climate change target was to [...]
Exclusive: Government offshoring customs jobs to prep UK firms for Brexit December 3, 2020 A government grant programme is paying for overseas workers to help British logistics firms prepare for Brexit. A loophole in the HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) £50m grant programme means taxpayer funds can be given to train overseas workers as long as their company has a UK base. The Customs Grants Scheme, which is being [...]
EU wants Brexit trade deal wrapped up with the UK by Friday December 3, 2020 Brussels officials are reportedly pushing for a UK-EU trade deal to be completed by tomorrow to avoid significant disruption when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December. Talks between UK and EU negotiators are still deadlocked, with Brussels now warning that the European parliament will find it hard to ratify a deal before the [...]
Only 3,600 households have signed up to Sadiq Khan’s energy company December 3, 2020 Fewer than 4,000 London households have signed up to Sadiq Khan’s green energy company that he set up this year for £3.2m. City Hall figures shows that London Power has just 3,658 customers, meaning City Hall has spent £875 per customer. London Power, which is run by Octopus Energy, was set up by City Hall [...]
France pushes EU to go for no-deal Brexit if UK does not make late concessions December 2, 2020 France is reportedly pushing the EU to go for a no-deal Brexit, before restarting trade talks next year, if the UK does not make significant concessions in the coming days. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is in London today for in-person negotiations with UK Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost and his team. Barnier also held [...]
Exclusive: Capital gains tax on French properties to soar for UK residents post-Brexit December 2, 2020 UK residents with a second home in France will have to pay substantially more capital gains tax on property sales starting from next year when Britain leaves the Brexit transition period. French tax authorities confirmed today that UK residents will no longer benefit from the EU exemption from a social levies tax and will need [...]
Labour rules out Universal Basic Income for next election manifesto December 2, 2020 Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has said she will not advocate giving every person in the UK a regular lump sum payment in the party’s next election manifesto. Dodds today told a virtual Bloomberg conference that giving regular handouts to everyone in the country, known as Universal Basic Income (UBI), “won’t work”. The shadow chancellor’s [...]
New Covid restrictions pass in parliament despite large Tory rebellion December 1, 2020 MPs have agreed to implement new tiered Covid restrictions from tomorrow, however Boris Johnson was rocked by the largest Tory backbench rebellion he has faced. Seventy-eight MPs, including 55 Tory MPs, voted against the government and against the three-tier Covid restrictions. The largest previous rebellion against Johnson was when 44 Conservative MPs voted against bringing [...]
