TfL: Khan hits out at Shapps for refusing to meet him as funding talks go down to wire December 6, 2021 City Hall and Whitehall have continued their row over urgent Transport for London (TfL) funding talks tonight, with each side blaming the other for slow progress. With just four days to go until TfL’s latest government bailout runs out, its fourth in the past 19 months, transport secretary Grant Shapps has still not met with [...]
Government drafts in Saudi Arabia to help with levelling up investment push December 6, 2021 The government is launching a concerted effort to attract Middle East investors to buy up property in parts of the UK outside London, with the drive touted as a potential tool in Boris Johnson’s levelling up agenda. A senior Department for International Trade (DIT) source said investment minister Lord Gerry Grimstone was helping “package together” [...]
Covid: Javid confirms community transmission of Omicron variant in England December 6, 2021 There is now community transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid across “multiple regions of England”, health secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed. Javid said today that there are 335 recorded cases of the variant in the UK, which “includes cases with no links to international travel”, but that there is not enough scientific evidence to [...]
Johnson says no new restrictions needed as top scientist warns people with ‘sniffle’ to stay home December 6, 2021 Boris Johnson has today insisted no new restrictions are needed, despite warnings from a top Covid scientist that people with a “sniffle” should work from home. Johnson this morning said the UK had been “the first country in the world to take decisive measures to tackle Omicron” in the face of criticism that his government [...]
Trevelyan to push for Trump-era steel tariffs on UK to be scrapped during US trip December 6, 2021 The UK’s international trade secretary will push the White House to scrap controversial tariffs on UK steel and aluminium during a three-day trip this week. Anne-Marie Trevelyan will leave for the US today and meet with her American counterpart Katherine Tai and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo. A Department for International Trade spokesperson said Trevelyan [...]
Exclusive: London MPs warn of DLR decline without new TfL funding deal December 5, 2021 The capital’s Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will be under serious threat of long-term decline without a sustainable funding deal for Transport for London (TfL), a group of London MPs have warned. The six MPs, all Labour members in East or South East London constituencies, wrote to transport secretary Grant Shapps today to say “some of [...]
Sir Lindsay Hoyle to raise allegations of widespread parliament cocaine use to the Met December 5, 2021 House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle will raise allegations of extensive cocaine use in parliament to the Metropolitan Police this week. Hoyle today said the allegations were “deeply concerning” and that people who “flout the law” should be duly punished. The Sunday Times reported today that cocaine use was rampant across parliament, with testing [...]
Rishi Sunak starts planning tax cuts in lead up to next election December 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak has begun to plan a series of Income Tax cuts before the next election, after he promised Tory MPs in October that he would be ease the tax burden by the end of this parliament. The chancellor plotted out increases in Corporation Tax and National Income Contributions this year, that will increase the [...]
London businesses and charities call on Rishi Sunak to provide long-term TfL funding December 5, 2021 More than 80 London business, universities and charities have written to Rishi Sunak to call on the chancellor to provide a long-term funding deal for Transport for London (TfL). Signatories to the letter – including the chiefs of Eurostar International, the ExCel Centre and London City Airport – called on Sunak to provide a funding [...]
Dominic Raab says people can ‘enjoy Christmas’ despite Omicron fears December 5, 2021 Dominic Raab has encouraged people to “enjoy Christmas” and that they should “get their loved ones around them”, despite fears of the Omicron variant. The justice secretary encouragaed people to still go to Christmas parties and events, before adding that his own Christmas party plans at the Ministry of Justice have been scaled back. Boris [...]