Rishi Sunak calls for more ‘diplomacy and engagement’ with China November 28, 2022 Rishi Sunak has said the UK needs to “evolve its approach” toward China as he signals closer “diplomacy and engagement” with the burgeoning super power. The Prime Minister told the Lord Mayor’s banquet at Guildhall tonight that the “golden era” of UK-China relations pushed by David Cameron “is over”, but that the UK must not [...]
Onshore wind set for revival as backbench pressure weighs on Government November 28, 2022 The seven year de-facto ban on new onshore wind projects could finally be lifted, after Grant Shapps hinted at a possible U-turn.
Number 10 hits out at China for ‘shocking and unacceptable’ arrest of BBC journalist November 28, 2022 The arrest of a BBC journalist by Chinese authorities in Shanghai has been branded as “shocking and “unacceptable” by Number 10. Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman today said that “journalists must be able to do their jobs without fear or intimidation” and that the Foreign Office is making inquiries. BBC journalist Ed Lawrence was beaten and [...]
Explainer-in-briefs: Finding the energy for a fight over energy November 28, 2022 After housing, the next cause of rebellion for Conservative MPs seems to be energy. Last week ex-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss joined the rebellion on onshore wind, siding with those who want to see the ban on new planning permissions removed. It is interesting, given that Johnson wasn’t a fan of onshore wind [...]
Police prepare for new wave of Just Stop Oil disruption in run up to Christmas November 28, 2022 The Met Police are preparing for a month of disruption from Just Stop Oil in the run up to Christmas. The force said the environmental campaign group will launching a new wave of protests from 28 November until 14 December. This comes after more than 750 activists were arrested in October and November, with over [...]
Top down targets won’t resolve regional divides as inflation shrinks spending November 25, 2022 For both parties, one of the challenges they face is that in truth many of us in the North have never fully understood exactly what what levelling up means.
Keir Starmer’s brand of blue collar progressivism is coming into focus November 24, 2022 It’s been a good 12 months for Labour. Sir Keir Starmer’s party began 2022 with a small polling lead over the Tories and will finish it looking like a government-in-waiting, thanks largely to the risible collapse of two Prime Ministers and economically crippling stagflation. Pressure will now come onto the opposition leader to give away more [...]
Pound reverses all damage done during Liz Truss premiership November 24, 2022 The pound has strengthened to its highest level against the US dollar in three months, reversing all the damage done to the currency since Liz Truss’s ill-fated premiership. Sterling today climbed 0.7 per cent against the greenback, hitting $1.21. A combination of the US Federal Reserve signalling it will slow its aggressive interest rate hike [...]
Brexit: Business groups and unions call for delay of EU legislation bonfire November 24, 2022 Leading British business groups and unions have called on Rishi Sunak to delay post-Brexit plans to shred all retained EU laws by 2023. In a letter signed by more than a dozen institutions – including the Institute of Directors and Trades Union Congress (TUC) – the groups said the plans would “cause significant confusion and [...]
Sunak backs down against BoE and ditches call-in power over City regulators November 23, 2022 The government has tonight confirmed it will scrap controversial plans to allow MPs to overrule City regulators as part of a post-Brexit Big Bang 2.0 blueprint. The decision to ditch the plans marked a victory for the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have both previously warned that introducing the so-called [...]