US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand may copy UK Hong Kong visa, says Patel July 15, 2020 Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand are looking at creating bespoke long term visas for Hong Kong residents escaping new security laws, according to home secretary Priti Patel. Patel told a parliamentary committee today that the UK’s Five Eyes security partners were looking at following the UK by making emergency visas available to Hong [...]
Boris Johnson commits to independent coronavirus inquiry July 15, 2020 Boris Johnson has committed to hold an independent inquiry into the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Johnson told the House of Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions that there would be an inquiry, marking it the first official confirmation that the government’s response would be officially scrutinised. The format [...]
Boris Johnson refuses to censure British Airways on workers conditions July 15, 2020 Boris Johnson has refused to condemn British Airways for planning to rehire 30,000 workers on worse conditions in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Sir Keir Starmer pushed the Prime Minister on whether the coronavirus bail outs, loans and grants should come with conditions that companies do not diminish workers’ rights. It was reported two [...]
Tube cleaners accidentally scrub out Banksy coronavirus artwork July 15, 2020 Artwork worth potentially hundreds of thousands pounds by street artist Banksy was removed from a London Tube carriage accidentally, after cleaners had no idea about the value of the works. Transport for London (TfL) removed the artwork, after the world-renowned artist painted a series of his trademark rats posing with face masks, due to TfL’s [...]
Rishi Sunak orders review into UK capital gains tax July 14, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has commissioned a report into capital gains taxes, which could lead to the government increasing the tax burden to help pay for its coronavirus spending. Sunak has asked the Office of Tax Simplification to conduct the review, with the body launching a survey today asking for “evidence to seek views about capital [...]
Coronavirus: Leicester lockdown to be reviewed on Thursday July 14, 2020 The local Leicester lockdown will be reviewed on Thursday to assess whether it is safe for the city to partially reopen, health secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed. Hancock said “numbers have been coming down in Leicester”, but that “the number of positive cases in Leicester is still well above the rest of the country”. The [...]
Huawei banned from UK’s 5G network after government U-turn July 14, 2020 The government will ban new Huawei products from being a part of the UK’s 5G network from next year and all its existing infrastructure will be removed by 2027 in a major U-turn. Huawei will also be banned from supplying equipment to the UK’s new full fibre broadband network, with the embargo likely to begin [...]
UK has now approved £46.7bn of coronavirus business loans July 14, 2020 British businesses have now accessed £46.7bn of loans through the government’s package of emergency coronavirus support schemes. New figures released today showed that £31.70bn of bounce back loans -lending of up to £50,000 which the government 100 per cent underwrites – have now been approved for 1.05m businesses. A further £11.85bn to 54,538 businesses has [...]
Brexit: UK completes assessments for City of London to retain EU access July 13, 2020 The UK has now submitted all paperwork necessary for the City of London to potentially retain access to the EU, after missing the original deadline two weeks ago. The 28 assessments were due on 1 July, however Downing Street previously blamed the EU for missing the deadline as they received much of the paperwork, which [...]
UK unveils new three-stage post-Brexit border plan July 13, 2020 The UK’s post-Brexit border regime will come into place over three stages next year, with most businesses able to delay filling out any customs declaration forms until July. The border regime will be fully operation in July, with no customs checks at the border until this point, as the government plans to build 10 to [...]
