PM mulls tax hike U-turn as govt awaits Sue Gray’s report: ‘Boris would now do anything to survive’ January 28, 2022 While questions loom over the future of Boris Johnson’s premiership in light of an official inquiry into partygate allegations, the prime minister is reportedly wavering on controversial plans to raise national insurance. The PM is under pressure from some Tory MPs to scrap the tax hike to win back support as he awaits the findings [...]
Rwanda: Mother nature’s bootcamp, with wild chimpanzees as your trainer January 24, 2022 I’m on my hands and knees, mud-caked and scratched to pieces, while a sticky-legged insect is meandering its way down the back of my neck. Somewhere in front of me, I can hear the gentle snick snick of machetes slicing through corkscrew ferns and above me murky sunlight bleeds through the thick forest canopy. I [...]
Met Police sued over refusal to investigate Downing Street Christmas party allegations January 11, 2022 The Metropolitan Police has been sued by a legal charity over its failure to investigate Downing Street Christmas party allegations. The Good Law Project has issued formal legal proceedings against Britain’s largest police force after pleading with the Met to take action in December. The not-for-profit sent a letter to the Met before Christmas, asking [...]
Income of FTSE 100 executives passes median UK worker’s annual salary today despite CEO pay dropping to £2.7m January 7, 2022 New research shows this morning that the pay of top company executives will pass the median annual wage for a full-time worker by Friday morning, sparking outrage from unions. The High Pay Centre said that, by this morning, the median FTSE 100 chief executive (CEO) will have been paid the median UK worker’s annual salary. [...]
Best of the year: a look at foreign politics, from Afghanistan to China December 27, 2021 Australia was in the midst of a social media storm in February, when it tried to force tech giants to pay for linked news content on their platforms. Things went terribly wrong, wrote Anna-Sophie Harling, as Facebook proceeded to block all news content on its platform. Australian users were kept in the dark, unable to [...]
2021’s lighter political moments: From Michael Gove’s dance moves and Britain’s chief mouser to the hunt for Irn-Bru December 26, 2021 From the rags-to-riches tale of Britain’s chief mouser to a hunt for Irn-Bru at COP26, even in the midst of a global pandemic there have been some lighter moments in politics during this long and challenging year. ‘Church warden overslept’ On May 6, local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales but some voters [...]
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: A flawed but warm biopic December 25, 2021 It’s awards season, and thus it’s an inevitability that there’s a biopic of a tortured genius hoping for Oscar gold. The genius in question is Louis Wain, a Victorian artist famous for his surreal paintings of cats, the popularity of which went some way to making them more common as house pets. Fresh from Spider-Man: [...]
Navigating the online safety dichotomy will resolve the uncertainty of tech regulation December 14, 2021 Our daily, physical lives are increasingly interwoven with our online lives. This is especially true for young people and children. This can be a strength – as we’ve seen during the pandemic – but can also be a weakness. Just as there is a responsibility to ensure the safety of people in real life, there [...]
Blinding Lights: The Weeknd is the UK’s most-viewed artist December 8, 2021 The Weeknd is the most-viewed artist in the UK (94.3m views), followed by Little Mix (93.7m views), according to data released today by Vevo, the world’s leading music video network.
Shoppers eye discount brands as increasing costs of essentials bite December 8, 2021 Shoppers are eyeing cheaper prices at discount supermarkets amid increases in the cost of living. Brands to focus on affordable prices have made market share gains over the past 12 weeks, according to fresh data from Kantar. Lidl hit a new record market share of 6.4per cent, while Aldi gained 0.2 percentage points to move [...]