London Tories call for Waterloo and City Tube line to reopen September 3, 2020 A group of Conservative London MPs and London Assembly members have called for the Waterloo and City Tube line to reopen in a bid to boost the number of people returning to central London. The line – which travels directly between Bank and Waterloo stations – was closed when the country was put into the [...]
Sadiq Khan hits out at 51 landlords for not removing dangerous cladding September 2, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has slammed 51 London landlords for not removing dangerous cladding from their buildings in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell disaster. Khan wrote to 47 private landlords and four social landlords who had been given government funding to remove cladding in their buildings that acted as a fire retardant in [...]
Rishi Sunak: UK will not be hit by a ‘horror show of tax rises’ September 2, 2020 The UK will not be a hit by a “horror show of tax rises” to pay off the government’s coronavirus spending, according to chancellor Rishi Sunak. Sunak was photographed holding a paper of notes for his address to a group of Tory backbench MPs today, with the speech appearing to suggest the Treasury will not [...]
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accuses Number 10 of endangering his family September 2, 2020 The Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has accused Downing Street of “politically smearing” him and putting his family in danger, after it was claimed he leaked the location of Boris Johnson’s Scottish holiday. Blackford told MPs today that he was not the source of the leak – which forced Johnson, his partner and [...]
Downing Street looks at issuing UK digital ID cards September 2, 2020 Britons may soon be issued personalised ID cards that can be used to book GP appointments, verify ages and store data on immigration status. The push for the new cards is reportedly a brainchild of Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings as he looks to change the way the government uses data. The Times reports [...]
Protest to call for London Stock Exchange to delist £1bn of Belarus bonds September 1, 2020 The London Stock Exchange has been hit by calls to delist almost £1bn of Belarus government bonds in the wake of alleged vote rigging by the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko. In June, the Belarusian government listed $1.25bn (£930bn) of bonds on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. A group of Belarus expats – [...]
Tony Abbott confirms he is in talks for top UK trade role September 1, 2020 Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said he is in talks with the UK government about taking up a role as one of Britain’s top trade advisers, confirming one of Westminster’s worst kept secrets. Abbott told Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee today he had “had some discussions with members of the British government” and was [...]
Ex-Prince William aide Simon Case appointed as new cabinet secretary September 1, 2020 Former adviser to Prince William, and Boris Johnson ally, Simon Case has been appointed as the UK’s top civil servant. Case will take over as cabinet secretary, and head of the civil service, on 9 September after serving as Number 10’s permanent secretary. Case was seconded from Prince William’s private office to assist Number 10 [...]
Tony Abbott: UK-Australia freedom of movement could begin on 1 January September 1, 2020 Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said there could be freedom of movement between Britain and Australia from next year as the two countries look to strike a free trade agreement. Abbott, who is tipped to become Britain’s joint president of the Board of Trade, told a virtual event today that a UK-Australia trade [...]
Black Lives Matter: City of London Corporation to review ‘problematic’ landmarks September 1, 2020 The City of London Corporation is today launching a review into landmarks and street names that have “historic links to slavery and racism” in the wake of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests. The three-month review will see the local authority ask people which landmarks “they think are a problem and what action they would [...]