Teaching unions may come to regret Ofsted reforms September 3, 2024 Abolishing one-word Ofsted judgements could be a good thing, but not for the reasons the government says, writes David Thomas The government has abolished single-word Ofsted judgments. For now schools will get grades for each of the four sub-categories currently in use, and from next year they’ll be replaced by a report card. Unions are [...]
Supermarket and McDonald’s bosses to meet ministers over workers’ rights reforms September 2, 2024 Bosses from UK supermarkets and McDonald’s are set to meet government ministers to be updated on plans for new laws around workers rights. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will join John Lewis CEO Nish Kankiwala; Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts; Claire Costello, chief people and inclusion officer at the Co-Op; and [...]
‘No plans’ to raise council tax but cut to discount not ruled out September 2, 2024 The government has no plans to increase English council taxes, Angela Rayner confirmed, but she declined to say whether she would scrap the single person discount to the bill. The deputy Prime Minister, who is also the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said her government “is about making sure working people [...]
Starmer’s in power, but is he in control? September 2, 2024 Labour MPs barely had time to gather for a group photo in Westminster before the summer recess started and they were packed off back to the constituencies. The lucky ones may even have made it abroad for a holiday. Today, when they file back into the Parliament and cram themselves onto the government benches in [...]
Reeves urged to soften private equity tax raid over fears of City exodus August 30, 2024 City groups are mounting a final call for the Chancellor to temper a tax raid on private equity fund managers amid fears of an exodus of dealmakers from London. Rachel Reeves’s Treasury has been consulting on plans to lift the levy on carried interest, the personal profits that fund managers make on the sale of [...]
Four-day working week will not be imposed on employers, says Government August 30, 2024 The Government has denied it will force businesses to allow staff to work a four-day week but said it supports flexible working. Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith dismissed a report in The Telegraph that Labour’s Make Work Pay plans could force businesses to accept employees’ demands for a four-day week. She told LBC radio: “We [...]
How much could a UK bank windfall tax raise? August 29, 2024 The banking sector is considered an easy target for an energy-style windfall tax, with lenders enjoying record profits on the back of interest rate hikes from the Bank of England last year.
Outdoor pub smoking ban would cause ‘serious economic harm’ to UK hospitality August 29, 2024 A possible smoking ban in outdoor spaces of pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK is likely to do more harm than good, leading trade figures have warned. The ban would make it illegal to smoke in pubs, outdoor restaurants and open-air spaces in nightclubs, according to leaked documents seen by The Sun, in a [...]
Future of Rosebank in doubt as UK drops challenge to judicial review August 29, 2024 The future of Britain’s largest untapped oil field, Rosebank, has been thrown in to doubt after the new government said it would not challenge a judicial review. The decision affects the field which is just off the Shetland Islands, as well as Jackdaw, another untapped site 150 miles east of Aberdeen. Legal challenges against the [...]
Starmer can’t keep blaming everything on the Tories August 29, 2024 Starmer will soon find out that he can’t keep piously contrasting himself with the previous government while snatching benefits from pensioners, promoting party donors and paying off his pals in the trade unions, says William Atkinson The most important number for Keir Starmer’s government isn’t 411 seats he won, the £22bn black hole that Rachel [...]