Coutts’ Farage decision is a blunder but it’s none of Sunak’s business July 20, 2023 Coutts should have the ability to decide who it grants its services to. But essential to financial services are really boring things like certainty, predictability and trust.
Coutts treatment of Farage ‘ought to jeopardise’ Natwest’s bank licence, senior Tory says July 19, 2023 Top Tory MPs have piled pressure on Coutts and its owner Natwest after the private bank reportedly closed Nigel Farage’s account because his views do “not align with our values”. Former Brexit secretary David Davis said the decision amounted to “thinly veiled political discrimination” and called it a “vindictive, irresponsible and undemocratic action”. Speaking during [...]
Rishi Sunak to defy backlash by axing HS2 route to Manchester October 4, 2023 Rishi Sunak is expected to defy a backlash from Tory colleagues and northern leaders by abandoning the high-speed rail route to Manchester as he seeks to portray himself as a radical reformer. The Prime Minister is expected to use his Conservative conference speech in the northern city to axe the HS2 leg from Birmingham as [...]
A ‘be British’ mandate won’t make up for seasonal workers picking our fruit July 11, 2023 Bringing back "pick for Britain" won't solve the problems of seasonal workers who come to the UK and find a substandard job market ripe for exploitation, writes Elena Siniscalco
Israel-Gaza latest: Cleverly visits, 17 Brits feared dead, King Charles ‘appalled’ and Netanyahu forms war cabinet October 11, 2023 Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has travelled to Israel to show the UK’s “unwavering solidarity” in the wake of the Hamas attacks
Sunak needs to learn to fight for his decisions – if not for Gavin Williamson November 10, 2022 Malcolm Tucker once reassured a hapless minister that their job was safe because it was too soon to fire them; “Sacked after 12 months – looks like you’ve f***ed up. Sacked after a week – looks like he’s f***ed up”. It’s apt that the behaviour of a man who seemed to yearn to star in [...]
Rest (hopefully) in peace: tech safety laws would have spelt disaster for free speech July 15, 2022 The Online Safety Bill has been pushed until the autumn, which hopefully means it will finally be dead in the water.
The ship of the state is the only vessel that leaks right from the very top November 7, 2022 In 1947, the Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, let slip some details of the Budget to a reporter as he walked into the chamber to deliver his speech and he was forced to resign.
‘Like a very, very Loose Women!’ 5 podcasters on the thrill of recording live at London Podcast Festival September 18, 2023 The London Podcast Festival returned this September, bringing the usually solitary exercise of recording podcasts into the public forum. It welcomed audiences to debate topics and involve themselves with conversations as podcasts were recorded live in King’s Cross. It’s an unusual format, so we spoke five people involved in the festival, the founder, three podcasters [...]
UK exports to India hit record levels despite crucial post-Brexit trade deal missing today’s Diwali deadline October 24, 2022 The UK is exporting and importing record volumes of goods with India despite complications around a trade deal which look set to miss todays planned Diwali date for completion. Exports in July (£939m) and August (£913m) surpassed £900m for the first time ever recorded which puts the total volume of exports to India so far [...]