Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds to renew calls for July budget July 2, 2020 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds will renew calls tomorrow for a July “back to work budget” in her first major set piece speech since being appointed to the role. She will urge chancellor Rishi Sunak to “recognise the scale of the challenge we face” and pledge a summer budget that focuses on “jobs, jobs, jobs”. Dodds, [...]
Brexit: UK vows to complete City of London assessments in two weeks July 2, 2020 The government has vowed to hand over paperwork to ensure the City of London maintains post-Brexit EU access within the next two weeks, after missing the initial deadline. The UK was supposed to hand over 28 regulatory equivalence assessments by Monday for the EU to assess if it would allow access to Britain’s financial services [...]
Brexit talks finish early with ‘significant differences’ still to bridge July 2, 2020 The latest round of Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU finished a day early this week, with “significant differences” still remaining between the two sides. A statement from chief UK negotiator David Frost said that he was still committed to coming to a principle agreement for a future trade deal this month. This [...]
All England schools set to reopen in full in September July 2, 2020 Schools in England will reopen in September, with attendance to become mandatory for all students. Whole year groups will be forced to form bubbles at secondary schools and will not be able to interact with other year groups, but social distancing will not be mandatory within the bubbles. Primary school students will have to form [...]
Coronavirus: NHS test and trace system fails to reach a quarter of cases July 2, 2020 A quarter of people in England testing positive with coronavirus is still not being reached by the government’s test and trace system, according to new figures. Figures from the Department of Health and Social Services show that only 75 per cent of the 6,183 people who tested positive for Covid-19, between 18 and 25 June, [...]
Fresh calls for guarantees on digital taxation in future UK-US trade deal July 2, 2020 One of America’s largest internet advocacy groups has published a six-point wish list for a future UK-US trade deal, including calls for no unilateral digital taxes. The Internet Association’s new white paper calls for a future trade deal to include provisions to ensure the free flow of information between the two countries, a guarantee to [...]
Downing Street still upbeat about gaining post-Brexit EU access for City of London July 1, 2020 Downing Street is still confident it can secure post-Brexit access to EU markets for the City of London as it blames Brussels for missing a key deadline in negotiations. The UK missed yesterday’s deadline to hand in 28 regulatory equivalency assessments to the EU relating to Britain’s financial services industry. Brussels must use these documents [...]
Hong Kong security law: UK confirms visa offer to 3m Hong Kong residents July 1, 2020 The UK has confirmed it will offer visas to 2.9m Hong Kong residents with a route to citizenship, after the imposition of new security laws by Beijing. Hong Kong residents with British National Overseas status and their dependents will be able to access five-year work or study visas, with a chance to apply for settled [...]
Dominic Raab says new Hong Kong security laws are ‘clear and serious’ violation of UK-China treaty July 1, 2020 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said newly implemented security laws in Hong Kong are a “clear and serious violation” of the handover treaty between China and the UK. China implemented the new legislation in Hong Kong today, which amounts to a widespread clampdown on freedom of speech and democracy. Under the new laws, criticism of [...]
Work still ‘ongoing’ on air bridges, says Alok Sharma July 1, 2020 Business secretary Alok Sharma has said the UK’s plans to create air bridges with other countries is still “ongoing”, potentially indicating further delays to any announcement. The UK’s plan to have quarantine-free with some low coronavirus risk countries, also known as air bridges or travel corridors, was expected to be announced last Friday. Media reports [...]
