May 2023 local elections: All you need to know April 4, 2023 In just over a month, voters in some parts of the UK will be heading to the ballot box for the local elections. Polling stations will open for residents to select local councillors – in what’s often seen as a key test for the government’s popularity, particularly after the turbulence of recent months. It’s also [...]
Keir Starmer follows Rishi Sunak and publishes tax return March 23, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has published his tax returns, showing he paid £67,000 in tax over the last year. The Labour leader paid £51,547 in 2020/21 and £67,033 in 2021/22, he said, which is a total of £118,607. It came just a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak published his own tax returns, which revealed he [...]
Starmer rejects ‘heads must roll’ approach to Met Police reform March 23, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he does not believe in a “heads must roll” approach to reforming the Met Police after an excoriating review into the failing force. Starmer said he would resist a “structural, break-it-up, heads must roll model” to overhauling the force. “I’ve seen that too often before where something goes [...]
Can Tulip Siddiq get Labour’s City plans blooming? March 23, 2023 Labour's Shadow City minister talks facing off against her opposite number and the struggle for the Square Mile.
Hunt must commit Treasury and BoE to review of rate rise impact, Labour shadow City minister urges March 21, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been urged to commit the Treasury and the Bank of England to a review of “sharp interest rate rises” in light of the ongoing banking turmoil. Shockwaves have rocked the financial sector in the past weeks with the collapse of the US arm of tech bank SVB – plus the buyout [...]
Sadiq Khan: Climate deniers will be ’emboldened’ if ULEZ expansion fails March 20, 2023 London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) expansion is now a “key frontier” in the global fight against climate change, Sadiq Khan has said. The mayor of London has called on the environmental lobby to come out more strongly in favour of the controversial policy, saying climate change deniers will be “emboldened” if it fails. Speaking at [...]
Allies fear Boris Johnson walking into a partygate ‘witch hunt’ – with a comeback at risk March 19, 2023 Former prime minister Boris Johnson could face a “witch hunt” before MPs at a grilling over his involvement in the lockdown-busting partygate scandal, a key ally has warned. Lord Greenhalgh, who was a deputy mayor during Johnson’s tenure at City Hall, said he was “concerned it will be a witch hunt” and hoped he would [...]
Business charm offensive: Reeves discusses investment plans at meeting with Lloyds, Aviva, L&G and British Land March 14, 2023 Labour’s business charm offensive is continuing as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to discuss plans to boost investment. Keir Starmer’s Labour has positioned itself as the ‘party of business’ as it aims to exploit the Conservatives’ reputational hit following the economic chaos of Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-budget. Reeves will discuss plans to boost business [...]
Labour warns UK has only half the childcare places it needs, as party demands urgent reform to support working parents March 8, 2023 The UK has only half the childcare places it needs, Labour has warned, with one in five providers haveing closed in the last five years. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson is set to lay out her party’s plans to reform the sector today and has vowed improvements will be her “first priority in government”. “The [...]
Labour tells Jeremy Hunt to ‘get a move on’ with Solvency II reforms March 7, 2023 Labour has hit out at the government over delays to overhauling EU-era Solvency II rules demanding that it needs to “get a move on”. Shadow city minister Tulip Siddiq called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to reform the rules – which govern the sums of money insurers must hold on their balance sheets to protect themselves [...]