Home Office to clamp down on visa overstays amid pressure from Farage May 6, 2025 New Home Office rules would put curbs on work and study visas from nationalities most at risk of overstaying and going on to claim asylum as part of Labour’s push to reduce net migration. Applications from Pakistanis, Nigerians and Sri Lankans are among those set to be restricted, according to a report in The Times. [...]
Tories take note: Reform will come at Labour from the left May 6, 2025 As the dust settles on the local elections, party leaders will be busy trying to identify the right lessons. For the Conservatives, the picture is both clear and complicated. As Kemi Badenoch put it, her party faced a “bloodbath” in councils across the country. That’s the clear bit. The complicated bit concerns what she should [...]
In memory of Richard Vines, a sage and a gentleman May 6, 2025 My friend Richard Vines, chief restaurant critic of Bloomberg for 25 years, passed away this week. A champion of both genius chefs and restaurateurs, he was a wonderful man who I admired hugely. Over the last few days, I have been reminded of some magnificent City lunches with Richard; at Kym’s by Andrew Wong, after [...]
Labour can beat Reform by rebuilding public services May 6, 2025 Labour’s path to electoral victory lies in tangible public service improvements. Modern Public Private Partnerships could be the key to delivering results without breaking fiscal rules, say former Labour cabinet ministers Alan Johnson and Lord Hutton There are two answers for a government under threat from Reform. You try to outflank them on the right [...]
Farage’s first real test: can Reform govern? May 6, 2025 After storming to success in the local elections, Reform now holds real positions of power – so what does it intend to do with it? Asks Emma Revell Many column inches will be spent poring over what the local elections mean for our supposedly two-party system, whether Labour or the Conservatives have most to lose [...]
Lights, camera, taxes: British film industry rattled by latest Trump tariff threat May 5, 2025 British media execs have been put on edge after Donald Trump took aim at foreign filmmakers in his latest tariff frenzy. In a brash social media post, the US president accused countries of a “concerted effort” to lure talent away from Hollywood in what he called a “national security threat” and vowed to impose tariffs [...]
When words matter more than numbers at the Bank of England May 5, 2025 City analysts have pencilled in their predictions for Thursday. Here’s how almost all of them likely read. Interest rates will be cut to 4.25 per cent, the Bank of England’s inflation forecast for this year will exceed its two per cent target and President Trump’s tariffs will be highlighted as a detriment to UK growth. [...]
Global jockey league: Dettori among stars set for $15m competition May 5, 2025 Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore and William Buick are among a dozen elite riders who have signed up to compete in a global jockey league that its backers believe will revolutionise horse racing. Australian James McDonald, Brazilian Joao Moreira and French jockeys Christophe Lemaire and Mickael Barzalona have also committed to the competition, which could start [...]
Luton Airport appoints former Labour cabinet minister as new chair May 5, 2025 Luton Airport has appointed former Labour cabinet minister and peer Lord John Hutton as chair as it presses ahead with plans to significantly expand capacity. Lord Hutton served in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s cabinets as Secretary of State for Defence, Business and in the Department for Work and Pensions, where he led initiatives [...]
Kemi Badenoch must quit now to save the Conservative Party May 5, 2025 Last week’s local election results were an extinction-level event for the Conservative Party. To prevent Nigel Farage becoming the real leader of the British right, Kemi Badenoch must resign now, says William Atkinson Amid stiff competition from their Canadian and Australian counterparts, the Conservatives’ local election disaster was the worst performance for a centre-right party [...]