Brexit: Sunak holding urgent talks with Northern Ireland’s leaders amid speculation protocol deal is close February 17, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is holding talks with Stormont leaders as speculation mounts that a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol could be close. Sunak and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris are meeting the politicians near Belfast to discuss the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements. Following his visit to Northern Ireland, Sunak is set to join [...]
Liz Truss: Former PM urges nations to ‘learn lessons of Russian aggression and stand up to China’ February 17, 2023 Liz Truss has urged democratic nations to stand up to China and learn the lessons of not taking earlier and tougher action against Russia. Speaking in Japan in her first public speech since her resignation as prime minister, Ms Truss called on the international community to agree a co-ordinated package of defence, economic and political [...]
UK military risks NATO downgrade, security think tank warns February 16, 2023 Britain risks no longer being NATO’s top military power in Europe, a think tank report has warned, in the midst of growing security issues. The French military has more troops, jets and ships than the UK, despite spending £13bn less on defence, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) found. France boasts 203,250 personnel compared [...]
If Europe keeps us out of Horizon and other R&I funds, our universities will suffer February 16, 2023 Post-Brexit alternatives to European funding for research and innovation must match previous sums. Without this vital cash, our universities will suffer a terrible blow, writes Paul Boyle
Bill Gates says Britain has ‘all the ingredients’ to be a net-zero leader February 15, 2023 Tech billionaire Bill Gates has said the UK has “all the ingredients” to lead the world on net zero, after he met with prime minister Rishi Sunak at a clean tech summit. Firms including Undaunted, Clean Growth Fund and Legal and General Capital met today to launch Cleantech for UK, a trade coalition worth £6bn. [...]
Sunak should go vegan for a month so he can fix Britain’s agriculture industry February 15, 2023 Gen V wants Rishi Sunak to go vegan. He should, but only to understand what our food system needs - with sustainable farming and lab-made meat as great alternatives to an army of vegans, writes Sascha O'Sullivan
Atom Bank boss backs London as home for much-anticipated IPO February 15, 2023 The chief of digital lender Atom Bank has publicly thrown his weight behind London as its home for an eventual initial public offering, in a boon to the City as it looks to tempt in more tech listings.
Ex-spy chief warns balloon ‘gross transgression’ as US denies alien links February 14, 2023 A former head of MI6 has warned of a “gross transgression” by the Chinese authorities in sending a spy balloon into US airspace and urged the UK to “wake up” to the threat posed. Sir Alex Younger, who ran the UK’s foreign intelligence service from 2014 to 2020, told the BBC on 14 February that [...]
Rail and postal strikes ‘decimated’ festive trade with worst impact for a decade February 14, 2023 London’s festive economy was “decimated” by rail and postal strikes, as new figures revealed the disruption caused by walkouts was the worst month on record since 2011. Around 843,000 working days were lost to strike action in December – the highest for more than a decade – according to official figures from the Office for [...]
Explainer-in-brief: UFOs or Chinese spy balloons? February 14, 2023 Are the mysterious objects flying over North America a sign of alien life?