Starmer to present Ukraine plan to parliament after frantic diplomatic weekend March 3, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer is set to make a statement in the Commons this afternoon to present a plan forged with President Macron over the weekend for a European “coalition of the willing” to guard a peace process in Ukraine. The prime minister will take questions from MPs from 15:30, with an opposition response from Conservative [...]
Workers rights: Don’t let ‘rogue’ firms undercut good employers, MPs urge March 3, 2025 Changes to the government’s workers’ rights package should be made to ensure “rogue firms” don’t undercut Britain’s best employers, MPs have urged. The Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, should have loopholes closed to avoid some companies exploiting work insecurity, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee (BTC) has [...]
International development minister resigns over cuts to foreign aid February 28, 2025 International development minister Anneliese Dodds has resigned over the Prime Minister’s cuts to the foreign aid budget. Dodds, a former shadow chancellor, has quit her posts in the foreign office and as women and equalities minister, in the wake of Keir Starmer’s move to reduce overseas aid to fund increased defence spending, which she revealed [...]
Trump-Starmer: UK may dodge tariffs as work to begin on new US trade deal February 27, 2025 The UK could be set to dodge US tariffs with work to begin on a new US-UK trade deal, it was revealed during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister flew to the States yesterday for a highly anticipated first meeting with President Trump since he reentered the White House [...]
Trump-Starmer meeting: Five things to look out for February 27, 2025 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to meet Donald Trump this evening for the first time since the US President re-entered the White House in January. Thanks to the US-UK so-called ‘special relationship’, meetings between the two nations’ leaders always have resonance. But amid the current international context, including Trump’s own comments about Russia’s [...]
PMQs: Starmer won’t confirm if Chagos deal money included in defence rise February 26, 2025 Keir Starmer has declined to confirm whether money spent on the Chagos Islands deal will be included in the rise in defence spending. The UK is in talks with Mauritius about handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory but leasing back the strategic Diego Garcia military base, which the US uses. The Prime [...]
Heathrow to pay first dividend in five years to new owners February 26, 2025 London Heathrow Airport plans to pay its owners a first dividend in five years after passenger numbers reached record highs in 2024. The West London hub has settled on a payout of £250m over the coming weeks, the first since before the pandemic. Heathrow’s ownership underwent its most significant change in decades in 2024 after [...]
Spring could prove to be an economic washout February 26, 2025 A modest burst of warm weather towards the end of last week may have coaxed the snowdrops and bluebells into life but don’t go dusting off the BBQ, as the cold isn’t done with us yet. Meteorologically speaking, Spring kicks in on 1 March but forecasters say the first month of the new season is [...]
‘Productivity argument’ against family firm tax breaks, IFS director argues February 25, 2025 There is a “productivity argument” against treating family businesses “generously”, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director has argued, when asked about inheritance tax. Economist Paul Johnson addressed the National Farmers Union (NFU) conference in Westminster on Tuesday, which saw environment secretary Steve Reed’s speech interrupted by farming protestors, as well as NFU president Tom [...]
Defence spending to rise to 2.5 per cent by 2027 via aid cuts, Starmer confirms February 25, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has announced the “biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War” as he confirmed the UK would spend 2.5 per cent of GDP [gross domestic product] by 2027. The Prime Minister unveiled the policy in a statement to the House of Commons after reports he was set [...]