Today: City hold its breath as Rishi Sunak is expected to confirm windfall tax on soaring energy profits May 26, 2022 Energy giants across the UK and investors in the City are awaiting what will come out of Westminster today as Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to cave in to pressure to impose a windfall tax on the soaring profits of oil and gas firms. Treasury sources did not deny reports he would use his announcement [...]
Downing Street in need of a cultural turnaround project May 25, 2022 There is a possibly apocryphal story about a high-flying financial services executive who, when hiring, always took their preferred candidate for lunch before signing on the dotted line. Unknown to the ambitious, keen to impress applicant, the exec pulled this trick at the same restaurant every time – and always told the restaurant to deliberately [...]
DfT urges union to go back to negotiating table following “disappointing” rail strike ballot May 25, 2022 The Department for Transport (DfT) has urged the RMT union to go back to the negotiating table after a strike was announced last night following a 34-day ballot. “Strikes should always be the last resort, not the first, so it is hugely disappointing and premature that the RMT is calling for industrial action before even [...]
Sue Gray report: Johnson says UK must ‘move on’ as he takes ‘full responsibility’ for partygate May 25, 2022 Boris Johnson has said now is the time to “move on” from the partygate scandal, after saying he takes “full responsibility” for the brazen Covid rule-breaking uncovered in Sue Gray’s report. The Prime Minister told the House of Commons that he had “no knowledge” that Covid rules were broken on eight occasions, as deliberated by [...]
British Land unveils £3.6bn green neighbourhood project for Canada Water May 25, 2022 British Land, one of the UK’s largest property developers, has today unveiled a £3.6bn plan to build a 53-acre town centre in Canada Water alongside Aussie pensions giant AustralianSuper. The regeneration project will include up to 3,000 new homes, as well as more office space – which expected to host 20,000 workers amid London’s post-pandemic [...]
David Mitchell on acting, cancel culture and why the internet is evil May 25, 2022 On 15 March 2020, David Mitchell took a bow following what he reckoned was the best performance yet of The Upstart Crow, the West End version of Ben Elton’s sitcom about William Shakespeare. The next day the country went into lockdown. “I found the pandemic pretty bleak, really”, says the comedian and panel show host. [...]
Sue Gray day: Who is the cat-loving former pub landlady from Tottenham who probed partygate? May 25, 2022 It’s D-Day in Westminster. Sue Gray has published her long-awaited report in the Downing Street parties during lockdown. The document is currently with the Prime Minister. Gray took on the civil service investigation into allegations of coronavirus rule-breaking at No 10 in December. As a result, over the course of the last six months, Gray [...]
Former head of Civil Service accuses Boris Johnson of ‘intentionally’ misleading Parliament over partygate: ‘It is pretty clear’ May 25, 2022 Boris Johnson “intentionally” misled Parliament over partygate, the former head of the Civil Service believes. Lord Kerslake said junior members of staff in Downing Street are now telling the story in their own words about the lockdown events and “that is quite damaging for the Prime Minister”. Lord Kerslake told Times Radio: “He (Mr Johnson) [...]
D-Day for Boris Johnson as Downing Street hold its breath ahead of today’s Sue Gray partygate report May 25, 2022 The long-awaited Sue Gray report – into Downing Street parties during the coronavirus lockdowns – is to be published today. Downing Street is holding is breath as it is widely expected the document may contain some harsh conclusions. In fact, the senior civil servant’s report is expected to be heavily critical of the culture in [...]
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen talks Meta, Musk and online safety May 25, 2022 City A.M. chats with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen about Meta, Musk and the future of online safety.