City minister Simon Kirby loses Brexit responsibilities to Treasury peer March 2, 2017 City minister Simon Kirby has seen his responsibilities for Brexit handed to Baroness Neville-Rolfe. Kirby was handed the role of economic secretary to the Treasury after the Brexit vote when May came to power. The Treasury has stressed that Kirby's remit remains the same as his predecessors, with the added Brexit work hived off to commercial secretary Neville-Rolfe. Neville-Rolfe [...]
Labour’s John McDonnell wants to force high-earners to publish their tax returns March 2, 2017 Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell has revealed new plans designed to improve trust in the UK's tax system, including forcing anyone earning over £1m to publish their tax returns. McDonnell announced the plans at a pre-Budget speech in London earlier today, adding that Labour also shares the widely-held goal of clamping down on tax avoidance. "Transparency and [...]
Up to 30 Tory MPs will join the Article 50 Bill rebellion on EU nationals, according to a peer March 2, 2017 Up to 30 Conservative MPs could join together to force the government to defend the rights of EU nationals, according to one member of the House of Lords, The Lords last night forced an amendment on to the Article 50 Bill on the topic, handing Prime Minister Theresa May her first parliamentary defeat on Brexit. [...]
Tinkering with business rates won’t fix a fundamentally broken tax on investment March 2, 2017 Business rates reform is crucial for the health of local communities across the country. Retailers pay a quarter of all business rates and it is the single largest tax paid by the industry. Put simply, the burden of property taxation is too high. It is a disincentive to invest in physical space. A system where [...]
With Francois Fillon limping on, is centrist Emmanuel Macron going to be the next French President? March 2, 2017 Famke Krumbmüller, partner at OpenCitiz, the political risk consultancy, says Yes. Once he qualifies for the second round, Emmanuel Macron will win it against Marine Le Pen. The ex-Rothschild banker is able to attract votes from across the political spectrum and is hence best placed among all candidates to beat the far-right (with 61 per [...]
Academics are becoming more and more left-wing, this free market think tank has warned March 2, 2017 The UK's academics are increasingly dominated by the left-wing, according to a new study from a free-market think tank. An estimated three-quarters of academics are left-liberals, according to the Adam Smith Institute, which said the figure reveals the dangers of groupthink in the UK's universities. By contract, just 12 per cent of British academics consider [...]
Liam Fox facing questions over demands that government contractors are a “cultural fit” on Brexit March 1, 2017 Liam Fox's international trade department is facing questions over procurement rules after demanding government contractors are a 'cultural fit' with Brexit plans. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has written to civil service chief Jeremy Heywood to demand an investigation and an apology from ministers. Adverts from the Department for International Trade said companies must “be committed [...]
The House of Lords amended Theresa May’s Article 50 Bill to protect EU nationals March 1, 2017 The House of Lords has handed Prime Minister Theresa May's government its first defeat on the road to Brexit, amending the Article 50 Bill to include a unilateral guarantee of the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK. Peers voted 358 to 256 in favour of a change to the Bill, which passed through [...]
Immigrants add £83bn of economic value to London March 1, 2017 Migrant workers in London with full time jobs each contribute an additional £46,000 net in gross value added (GVA) per year to the economy, research by PwC and London First reveals. A combined total of £83bn for all of London’s 1.8m migrant workers is added, making up approximately 22 per cent of the capital’s GVA. [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker unveils five options for EU after divorce from UK, including suggesting the bloc might scale back to just the Single Market March 1, 2017 Jean-Claude Juncker has today suggested the EU might have scale back until it is essentially just the Single Market by 2025, as member states increasingly fail to find common ground on important policy issues. The suggestion was one of five possible scenarios put forward by the European Commission president for the future of the EU, published as [...]