Yesterday’s Article 50 motion legally important but not that important, top court reminds December 8, 2016 Yesterday's parliamentary vote to stick to the March 2017 deadline for triggering Article 50 carries little legal clout, lawyers in the country's top court stated today. On the final day of the Article 50 appeal to the Supreme Court, James Eadie, one of government's lawyers, presented the 11 Supreme Court justices with a copy of the motion and [...]
George Osborne has made a cool £500k on the speaker’s circuit December 8, 2016 Before the Brexit vote, George Osborne was leading the Treasury's warnings of an imminent economic collapse if the UK voted to leave. That hasn't quite come to pass, and one beneficiary of that is the former chancellor himself. Figures revealed this week show Osborne has now earned more than £500,000 from making speeches since getting unceremoniously [...]
Will Boris Johnson’s Saudi comments hurt the UK’s Gulf trade charm offensive? December 8, 2016 Foreign secretary Boris Johnson's attack on Saudi Arabia runs the risk of harming UK efforts to build trading relations with Gulf states, experts say. In remarks reported earlier this week, Johnson accused the Saudi regime of “twisting” Islam for political ends, fighting “proxy wars” in the region with Iran. Downing Street this morning issued a [...]
Transport for London hits out at government for failing to share air quality information relating to Heathrow expansion December 8, 2016 Transport for London (TfL) has criticised the government for failing to share key information on Heathrow expansion. Speaking at a London Assembly Transport Committee meeting on Thursday, Alex Williams, acting managing director of planning at TfL, said: "There is an ongoing issue that pre any legal challenge, we have asked for a regular series of [...]
What can we learn from Theresa May’s Christmas cards? December 8, 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled the designs of three Christmas cards that she will send this year. All three were drawn by schoolchildren from her constituency of Maidenhead, and chosen personally by the Prime Minister. But with the PM remaining tight-lipped on her Brexit strategy ahead of triggering Article 50 next year, could she be [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan is making a “last-ditch attempt” to change the government’s mind on rail devolution December 8, 2016 It might've been a no from Chris Grayling, but Sadiq Khan isn't giving up his quest to move control of suburban rail services over to Transport for London (TfL). In fact, deputy mayor of London for transport Val Shawcross, has said he'll be making "a last-ditch attempt" at getting the government to have a rethink. [...]
Sadiq Khan’s TfL business plan will “leave the books resolutely unbalanced” December 8, 2016 The mayor's Transport for London (TfL) business plan has only just been announced, but it's already causing raised eyebrows. Step forward Keith Prince, Conservative London Assembly member, who has criticised the plan as "reckless" and warned that commuters will suffer. “Since May we’ve seen the mayor making wild spending promises with little real hint of [...]
Conservative MP Bob Neill wants Grayling to resign over “cynical, party political move” on suburban rail services December 8, 2016 A leaked letter from Chris Grayling to former mayor Boris Johnson saying he wanted to keep suburban rail services "out of the clutches" of any future Labour mayor has prompted a flurry of criticism. And at the forefront of it, Bob Neill, former Conservative Party vice chairman and MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, has called for [...]
The Gulf States see great opportunities in Britain’s bright post-Brexit future December 8, 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May is in Bahrain, meeting with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), spearheading the UK government’s plans to “turbo-charge” trade with this important trading bloc. In doing so Mrs May has gone into the history books as the first British Prime Minister to attend the annual GCC Summit, and also the [...]
Plan B for Italian banks is like Fight Club: You don’t talk about it (except in Italy) December 8, 2016 Back in 2010, as the Greek crisis began, I was up in the mountains of Davos interviewing Joaquin Almunia, the then EU economics commissioner. Eight times I asked him: does the EU have a Plan B if Greece’s banks fail? After fudging an answer on the first four attempts, saying Plan A was surely going [...]