Osborne will have to face up to Britain’s pensioners if he wants to tackle debt June 17, 2015 George Osborne promised last week to legally bind future governments into lowering debt. Thanks to one of his own policies, that debt ambition will be much harder to meet unless reforms are undertaken today. The problem is the “triple lock” on the basic State Pension, the main benefit for retired people which is received by [...]
London mayor Boris Johnson told black cab driver to “f*** off and die” June 17, 2015 London mayor Boris Johnson has been filmed telling a London black cab driver to "f*** off and die" before adding "and not in that order". The Tory MP was cycling home when he became involved with the cabbie who appears to gesticulate at him and say "you're one of them mate" in footage obtained by [...]
End Austerity Now march will completely disrupt parts of the City around Bank and Mansion House, say City of London Police June 17, 2015 A major protest against austerity measures will take over central London this Saturday – and people are being warned to avoid certain parts of the capital as a result. The End Austerity Now march, which is being organised by the People's Assembly Against Austerity and supported by several unions and pressure groups, is expected [...]
Prime Minister’s Questions: George Osborne discusses radicalisation, climate change and employment June 17, 2015 George Osborne has made his debut on centre stage at Prime Minister's Questions, as Parliament discussed radicalisation, climate change and today's employment figures. The Chancellor was standing in for the Prime Minister, who is continuing his tour of Europe to meet EU leaders, while Labour's Hilary Benn was asking questions. Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, [...]
Greek crisis: UK stepping up contingency plans for Grexit says George Osborne June 17, 2015 The government has started planning for a Greek exit from the Eurozone, George Osborne has confirmed. Read more: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says Greece has been misleading its voters A Grexit would pose "serious economic risks" to the UK, the chancellor said today, as David Cameron prepares to discuss the crisis with Italy's Prime Minister [...]
Rangers shareholders vote against immediate repayment of Mike Ashley’s £5m loan June 17, 2015 More than half of Rangers' shareholders have voted against paying back Mike Ashley's £5m immediately. The Sports Direct founder and owner of Newcastle called a meeting at Ibrox on Friday – which he did not attend personally – seeking repayment of the loan as well as an explanation for why the club had delisted from [...]
A third of pensions don’t qualify for George Osborne’s “pensions revolution” June 17, 2015 A third of pensions don't qualify for new rules which allow savers to withdraw their entire pension pots, it's been reported. The investigation by the Daily Mail found as many as six million policies could be "hard to cash in", including 2.29m final salary pensions. More than half that figure is public sector pensions, while insurance [...]
London mayor election: Who has declared in the race to succeed Boris Johnson? June 17, 2015 The London mayor election will take place next year and, with incumbent Boris Johnson standing down to focus on his role in Parliament, the field is filling with candidates who have already declared their intentions to run. Five Conservative candidates are looking to succeed Johnson, while six Labour candidates, two Greens, one Independent and a [...]
Labour leadership campaign: Tories support Corbyn in bid to damage party June 17, 2015 Conservatives have launched a campaign to elect Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour party in order to damage the party's electoral prospects. After Labour's poor results in the General Election, they believe that another left-leaning leader would lock the party out of government for another term. Changes in the Labour party rules now allow [...]
David Cameron gets a bloody nose as rebel Tory backbenchers flex their muscles over EU referendum bill June 16, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron avoided an embarrassing parliamentary defeat last night, but only after Labour decided to abstain from a key vote. More than two dozen Conservative backbenchers rebelled over rules surrounding an EU referendum that Cameron has promised will take place before the end of 2017. A cross-party combination including 27 Tory rebels and [...]