A New Year’s resolution for government: Stop setting targets January 9, 2025 From HS2 to Net Zero, governments have a habit of setting ambitious long-term goals and failing to deliver. Instead of targets, we need long-term plans to fix the nation’s problems, says John Oxley The New Year almost always brings with it talk of resolutions, intentions and targets. This is true of governments too . In [...]
PMQs: Siddiq ‘acted appropriately’ by referring herself to adviser, Starmer says January 8, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Tulip Siddiq has “acted appropriately” by referring herself to the independent adviser on standards and said he would not give “running commentary” of the recently announced probe into her finances. The City minister referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests on Monday, for [...]
Starmer: Funding rules may be changed amid Musk’s interest in Farage’s Reform January 8, 2025 The government will look at potential reforms to political party funding, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as0 the Liberal Democrats raised the “spectre” of Elon Musk’s possible donation to Reform UK. Leader Sir Ed Davey asked the Prime Minister to change the rules around party funding amid the US businessman’s continued interest in British politics [...]
Investors ‘are losing confidence’ in the UK economy January 8, 2025 The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt, which reflects the cost of borrowing, hit 4.78 per cent on Wednesday afternoon, a post-financial crisis high.
Freedom and parental choice are under threat from school reforms January 8, 2025 The government’s schools bill will undo all the progress that’s been made in English education and had power over our children’s futures to unions and activists, rather than the people who know best, says Mark Lehain English schools really are better now than 35 years ago, by any number of measures. Things improved by design, [...]
Budget employment law changes fuel increased job insecurity January 7, 2025 Around one in seven workers said that they feel insecure about their job at this time, particularly among those with a lower income, according to new polling
Majority of people want inheritance tax cut exclusive poll finds January 7, 2025 Research from Freshwater Strategy showed that 54 per cent of voters think the controversial tax should be set at a lower level.
Government Legal Department discriminated against top lawyer, Tribunal rules January 7, 2025 A senior lawyer for the Government Legal Department claims of unlawful deductions of wages and indirect sex discrimination were upheld by the Tribunal
The private health companies set to profit from Labour’s NHS plans January 7, 2025 A City broker has said Feedback and One Health Group are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the government’s plans to reform the NHS in the UK. The Elective Reform Plan, published yesterday by NHS England, set out a range of reforms to enable the government to hit the 18-week target for referral to [...]
Keir Starmer less popular among UK voters than Donald Trump January 7, 2025 Keir Starmer is less popular among UK voters than Donald Trump, according to new polling. The first of a new monthly Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll found the Prime Minister had the lowest approval of all figures tested, with a majority of voters having an unfavourable view. Starmer has the lowest net approval rating of -36 [...]