Brexit: Kent to get ‘internal border’ to monitor incoming lorries September 23, 2020 Police will soon have to monitor Kent’s border and turn away lorries without an “access permit” as a part of the government’s Brexit plans. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said officers will use number plate recognition technology to monitor truckers travelling into Kent, with some characterising the plans as amounting to an internal UK border. [...]
West End braces to lose £2bn in Christmas sales due to new lockdown November 2, 2020 Retailers in London’ shopping district are set to lose up to £2bn in sales across the eight-week period up to Christmas, new data released today has found. According to the New West End Company, only 9m people will visit the West End in the festive season due to the new month-long lockdown. Previously the group, [...]
Spending watchdog criticises government over £18bn Covid contracts November 18, 2020 The UK’s public spending watchdog has slapped the government on the wrist for failures of transparency when awarding lucrative private contracts worth around £18bn to companies during the coronavirus crisis, highlighting errors and potential conflicts of interest. The National Audit Office’s (NAO) report comes amid claims that the government has awarded contracts to businesses with [...]
Brexit: UK postpones new checks on EU goods for six months March 11, 2021 The UK has today moved to postpone implementing post-Brexit checks on food coming from the EU for another six months. Boris Johnson’s UK-EU relations chief Lord David Frost said the decision was made to give traders time to focus on reopening as the Covid restrictions are eased instead of spending time on the extensive new [...]
Royal Navy awards £1bn training contract to outsourcing firm in government spending splurge December 18, 2020 The Royal Navy has awarded a £1bn contract to British outsourcing firm Capita to spruce up its training services, as part of a government spending splurge to “modernise” the military. Capita this morning announced it has won a bid to transform and modernise the Royal Navy’s shore-based training across 16 sites in the UK. The [...]
We need to stop endless reviews to save Britain’s summer March 3, 2021 Boris Johnson’s roadmap to unravel lockdown has lifted spirits across the nation. The reopening timetable is something to look forward to after so many months of isolation. When the ExCeL built the first Nightingale in March last year this felt like a distant dream. We were told vaccines could take years in development, PPE was [...]
Vaccine passports: What’s going on and what happens now? April 6, 2021 It looks as though vaccine passports could be on the cards until the threat of Covid-19 recedes. At a press conference on Monday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the principle of requiring someone to have a certificate to prove they would not pass on the disease “can be a sensible one”. However, the PM [...]
Michael Gove tears into Jeremy Corbyn as government defeats no confidence vote January 16, 2019 Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence in her government on Wednesday after a barnstorming speech from Michael Gove tore apart the Labour leader’s claim to be the next Prime Minister. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled the motion after May’s Brexit deal was heavily defeated on Tuesday night in a bid to force a general [...]
Britain ditches controversial Internal Market Bill clause in Brexit divorce deal December 8, 2020 The government will ditch parts of the Withdrawal Agreement that would have seen the UK break international law, after reaching an “agreement in principle” on Brexit divorce issues. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said he was “delighted” to have reached a compromise with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovicon on post-Brexit arrangements for the Irish border. [...]
Logistics groups call for ‘urgent’ meeting with government over Brexit border disruption September 4, 2020 The UK’s leading logistics and customs groups have called for “urgent” meetings with ministers to discuss Brexit border issues over their fears the supply chain “will be severely disrupted”. Eight groups called for an “urgent roundtable meeting” with Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport secretary Grant Shapps. “Our concern is so [...]