Tony Blair: Moderates may have lost the Labour party forever September 7, 2018 Tony Blair has revealed that he doubts whether the Labour party can be "taken back by moderates" following on from a period of "profound change" under leader Jeremy Corbyn. Speaking on the BBC podcast Political Thinking With Nick Robinson, the former prime minister said that Labour is now “a different type of Labour party” than the one he [...]
Sterling lifts as Barnier says Brexit can lead to ‘unprecedented’ UK-EU partnership September 7, 2018 Sterling climbed 0.89 per cent against the euro today after the EU’s chief negotiator sounded positive notes about the likelihood of the UK securing a Brexit deal. Michel Barnier said there were positive elements of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers plan, which Brexiteers had previously dismissed as “dead in the water”, as a transcript of [...]
Vince Cable to step down as Lib Dem leader next year September 7, 2018 Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable could step down from his role next year, he announced today, as he revealed new rules for leadership contest to take place after Brexit. The Twickenham MP, who has led the party since last year, revealed that he plans to quit "once Brexit is resolved or stopped" in March next year. Read [...]
The anonymous Trump letter isn’t treason, but such public provocation is unproductive September 7, 2018 Treason? Question mark or not, the US President’s response to the anonymous opinion article in the New York Times, supposedly from someone working in his administration, has dramatically overstepped the mark. Any reasonable person recognises that the accusations against Donald Trump in the piece do not amount to “the crime of betraying one’s country” – [...]
Is there any justification for keeping Help to Buy? September 7, 2018 Is there any justification for keeping Help to Buy? David Campbell, group sales and marketing director at Telford Homes, says YES. Help to Buy is a wonderful policy that has enabled around 246,000 people to get onto the property ladder – 81 per cent of whom were first-time buyers. Many of these buyers would not have [...]
Editor’s notes: Jeff Bezos should look closer to home for ideas on where to spend his fortune, new peer Bethell is a Lord to applaud, and the Economist shows how to stand up to social media bullies September 7, 2018 Amazon has joined Apple in the ranks of $1 trillion companies based on market capitalisation. Shortly before his company hit this massive (but meaningless) valuation, founder Jeff Bezos was pondering how to spend his vast wealth. Bezos is estimated to be sitting on a $130bn (£100bn) fortune – and earlier this summer he was asked [...]
Why is Boris Johnson taking his punishment beating from Downing Street rather than trumpeting an alternative Brexit plan? September 6, 2018 At the start of this week Boris Johnson was slapped down by Number 10 for failing to come up with an alternative Brexit plan, with officials saying his anti-Chequers newspaper column “offered no new ideas to respond to”. Just as he did during the fallout from a previous column about the burqa, he has taken [...]
Exclusive: ERG pulls back from publishing Brexit plans September 6, 2018 The pro-Brexit group of MPs the European Research Group has decided to pull back from publishing the first of its series of alternative proposals this weekend, Morning Wire has learned. It had been widely reported that the ERG's alternative to Theresa May's Chequers proposal was to be drip fed throughout the month, starting on Sunday, [...]
EU Commission stresses ‘positive elements’ to Chequers proposal following claims that Michel Barnier had said it was ‘dead’ September 6, 2018 The European Commission has played down reports that Michel Barnier said the Chequers plans were “dead”, arguing that the EU's chief negotiator had found "positive elements" to the proposals. Yesterday Labour MP Stephen Kinnock revealed that during private talks Barnier had declared the proposals "dead in the water", claiming he had made it "crystal clear that Chequers is [...]
Operation Yellowhammer: Photo of secret Treasury document reveals no deal contingency planning September 6, 2018 A secret Treasury document detailing the government's no deal contingency planning, under the code name Operation Yellowhammer, warns of the importance in maintaining confidence "particularly… for financial services". The document, which was snapped by political photographer Steve Back being carried by City minister John Glen into a Whitehall meeting this morning, included a series of discussion points for [...]