General Election 2015: Spinning out of control? Small business letter of support sent from CCHQ address, includes dissolved businesses April 27, 2015 Are the Conservatives caught in a PR tailspin of their own making? The Tories may have got the backing of several thousand small businesses, but it seems that this support was not quite as spontaneous as it may appear. Labour supporters are highlighting how the letter was sent from a CCHQ address, and [...]
Nicola Sturgeon: “Ed Miliband can’t deny reality” and will have to talk with the SNP April 27, 2015 SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said Ed Miliband "can't deny reality" and will have to be prepared "to talk and to compromise" with the SNP if Labour falls short of a parliamentary majority. After a week when the Tories hammered home the dangers to England of an SNP-Labour deal Ed Miliband gave the clearest indication yet that [...]
General Election 2015: Conservatives get the backing of 5,000 small businesses April 27, 2015 The Conservatives have received an endorsement from 5,000 small businesses across the country, who want David Cameron’s party to get the chance to finish what it started. The letter, published in The Telegraph, praises the government for: Their steps to lower taxes, reduce red tape, simplify employment law and get the banks lending. The coalition, [...]
General Election 2015: Labour bids to woo first time buyers with stamp duty pause April 27, 2015 Labour will today announce that it would scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £300,000, for the first three years it is in government. The move is seen as a bid to win over younger voters and pull ahead of the Conservatives, as polls continue to show the two parties neck-and-neck [...]
General Election 2015: Supreme Creations’ CEO Smruti Sriram wants more investment in young people April 27, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 10 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. SMRUTI SRIRAM: CEO, SUPREME CREATIONS I would like to see more policies which focus on empowering young people. [...]
General Election 2015: Ed Miliband slings hook on deal with the SNP April 27, 2015 Labour leader Ed Miliband moved yesterday to rule out any prospect of a deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the election. “If there is a Labour government, it would be a Labour Queen’s speech. It’ll be a Labour budget. It will not be written by the SNP. I couldn’t be clearer than that,” [...]
Big guns Lord Ashcroft and Rupert Murdoch aim fire at David Cameron April 27, 2015 David Cameron recently pledged to serve a full second term as Prime Minister – yet titans of the centre-right are eyeing up a somewhat quicker exit for him. Party donor and keen psephologist Lord Ashcroft is no big fan of Cameron, referring to the Tory leader as “suspicious” in a recent blog post regarding [...]
Neverendum revisited: The break-up of the Union is more likely than ever April 26, 2015 Like some George Romero zombie film sequel, the Scottish question simply refuses to die. As I posited in September last year, the supposedly definitive referendum vote was likely to be anything but that. Rather, Scotland’s status in the Union was more likely to morph into a “Neverendum” – a huge, unsolved, existential distraction that would [...]
It’s crunch time for the UK’s skills shortage: Our politicians must wake up April 26, 2015 Following the launch of the election manifestos, voters will be looking to understand exactly where each party is positioned on key issues from immigration and foreign policy to the NHS. Yet there is one area which still needs particular attention: addressing the UK’s skills shortages. This means making sure that British businesses have the right [...]
General Election 2015: Tory donors want Boris Johnson to replace David Cameron as party leader April 26, 2015 David Cameron's days as head of the Conservatives may be limited, if party donors have it their way. Two supporters who made substantial contributions in recent years have expressed dissatisfaction at the way he is leading the party, and say they want Boris Johnson to replace him if he loses the General Election on 7 [...]