Tory by-election candidate says levelling up agenda includes outer London November 28, 2021 The Conservative candidate in an upcoming by-election has claimed the government’s levelling up agenda includes poorer parts of outer London. Old Bexley and Sidcup candidate Louie French told City A.M. that Boris Johnson’s flagship agenda, generally thought to only encompass the Midlands and the North, “completely” includes economically deprived areas of the capital and that [...]
Rebel Tory MP Steve Baker to set up new campaign to push low-tax agenda November 28, 2021 Perennial rebel Tory MP Steve Baker is setting up a new Westminster campaign group to push Boris Johnson to adopt a low tax, small state position in the wake of a series of tax rises. Baker, who has a history of running successful parliamentary rebellions against Tory Prime Ministers, is planning to run a campaign [...]
The public and private divide has shifted and Thatcherism won’t save us November 26, 2021 This, said Margaret Thatcher as she drew Friedrich Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty from her bag and slammed it on the table, is what we believe. The “vegetables”, as Spitting Image so memorably characterised her cabinet, agreed. Thatcher knew what she believed and the business community knew it too. It was the clarity of her [...]
Lidl aims for 1,100 UK stores by 2025, creating 4,000 new jobs November 24, 2021 Supermarket Lidl has announced plans to have 1,100 stores across the UK by 2025, creating 4,000 new jobs, after opening 55 stores during the first year of the pandemic. It comes as the grocer published its accounts filed with Companies House for the 12 months to the end of February showing revenues jumped 12 per [...]
Downing Street signals it is prepared to tear up Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal November 23, 2021 Downing Street said late last night the UK government is prepared to consider tearing up elements of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal, despite a Cabinet minister insisting the option would not be used before Christmas. Number 10 said there was no timetable for whether or not it would unilaterally use the powers under Article 16 of [...]
Letters: Warning, risk of electric shock November 22, 2021 [Re: It’s about time for Rishi Sunak to make his mind up on on a road tax, Nov 19] In the same way that government’s previously promoted diesel power as the solution to saving energy and the planet, electric vehicles are a similar red-herring. Batteries are not going to save us, as the practicalities of [...]
Boris Johnson rules out £20bn bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland November 21, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has abandoned plans for a bridge or tunnel that would have connected Northern Ireland and Scotland. Johnson, a lover of grand infrastructure projects, heavily downplayed the prospects that the concept would ever get off the ground, downgrading it to merely an “ambition” that was “too expensive.” Johnson faced some derision after [...]
British Business Bank’s oversight of Greensill was ‘woefully inadequate’ with £335m of taxpayers’ money at risk November 20, 2021 A new report has warned that up to £335m of taxpayers’ money is at risk due to failures by the British Business Bank to properly scrutinise bust lender Greensill Capital. The Public Accounts Committee of MPs found that the bank, which oversaw the billions lent to businesses during the pandemic in loans backed by the [...]
It’s about time for Rishi Sunak to make his mind up on road tax for electric vehicles November 19, 2021 Britain is firmly on the front foot towards a transition to electric vehicles. Last week, as he unveiled a new design for charging stations, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he hoped they would become as iconic as the black cab. The government’s newly announced zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate will set electric vehicle sales targets [...]
‘Great train robbery’: Labour outrage at government cuts to HS2 November 18, 2021 Labour has labelled the government’s decision to cut the eastern leg of HS2, which would have connected Birmingham to Leeds, a “great train robbery”. Transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed today, after a series of press stories this week, that the eastern leg of the high speed rail line will instead go from Birmingham to near [...]