Liz Truss sets mid-2021 deadline for UK-US trade deal September 28, 2020 The UK is aiming to get a US trade deal completed by midway next year, according to international trade secretary Liz Truss. Truss revealed the deadline on trade talks during a virtual Spectator event today, saying any potential deal will need to be agreed before the US Congress’ power to approve trade deals expires mid-2021. [...]
Boris Johnson facing parliamentary defeat over Covid powers September 27, 2020 Boris Johnson is facing his first parliamentary defeat since winning the 2019 election, with up to 60 Tory MPs prepared to defy party whips and vote for an amendment to new Covid legislation. Legislation to extend powers allowing the Prime Minister to unilaterally impose coronavirus restrictions by a further six months will come before the [...]
Labour takes three-point lead over Tories in new poll September 27, 2020 Labour has taken a three-point lead over Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in a new poll, just days after Sir Keir Starmer’s first party conference as leader. An Opinium/Observer poll released last night has Labour on 42 per cent and the Conservatives on 39 per cent, representing the first major poll to have the opposition lead the [...]
UK and EU to enter crunch final weeks in Brexit negotiations September 27, 2020 The UK and EU are moving toward the final stages of Brexit trade talks, with the chances of a deal reportedly improving. The ninth round of formal negotiations will begin on Tuesday, with both sides having made late concessions, according to the Sunday Times. Senior sources told the Times that Michael Gove has been pressuring [...]
Right-wingers Dacre and Moore in line for top media posts under Johnson September 27, 2020 Two prominent right-wing media critics of the BBC are reportedly in line for jobs as the next president of the public service broadcaster and the head of TV regulator Ofcom. Former Telegraph editor, and official Margaret Thatcher biographer, Lord Charles Moore is in line to be the next BBC president, while former Daily Mail editor [...]
Boris Johnson to call for greater international cooperation in UN speech September 25, 2020 Boris Johnson will use his speech at the UN General Assembly on Saturday to call for greater international cohesion while also laying out a five-point plan to prevent future pandemics. The Prime Minister is expected to say that the coronavirus pandemic has created larger divides in geopolitics “at a time where closer collaboration is more [...]
Rishi Sunak ‘ready to do more’ if national Covid lockdown declared September 24, 2020 Rishi Sunak has vowed that he is willing to extend his newly announced wage subsidy scheme if a further national lockdown is implemented. Sunak today launched the Jobs Support Scheme, which will allow full-time workers to go back to work part-time and have the government help pay for two-thirds of hours they have lost. The [...]
Government to subsidise wages of part-time workers in new scheme September 24, 2020 Rishi Sunak today announced a new “jobs support scheme” , which will see the government support the wages of people working part-time from November in a bid to stave off mass unemployment. The scheme, described by Sunak as a “radical intervention into the UK labour market”, will allow full-time workers to go back to work [...]
Rishi Sunak set to pump billions into economy to stave off unemployment September 24, 2020 Rishi Sunak will today unveil a multi-billion pound support package for ailing companies as he tries to stave off mass unemployment over winter. Sunak’s “winter economy plan” is expected to involve further VAT cuts, more emergency business loans and new wage subsidies for part-time workers to replace the furlough scheme. He will also announce that [...]
Trade experts raise fresh doubts over UK-US trade deal due to tax row September 24, 2020 Trade experts have expressed fresh doubts about the prospect of a UK-US trade deal while Britain’s digital services tax is in place. UK and US negotiators concluded the fourth round of formal negotiations this week as Downing Street tries to quickly close trade agreements as a part of its post-Brexit “Global Britain” agenda. Several trade [...]
