Coronavirus: MPs told to stay out of Commons chamber
Prime Minister's Questions has taken place in a half-empty House of Commons, after Labour and the Conservatives told MPs not scheduled to raise a query with Boris Johnson to stay away.Amid fears over coronavirus spreading at Westminster, the government asked politicians "respectfully" to "adhere to this advice".Labour urged its MPs…
UK Media Reports Ministers Warned Against Saying ‘No Successful Examples’ of Russian Meddling
UK15:45 GMT 15.03.2020(updated 18:04 GMT 15.03.2020) Get short URLIn the run-up to the UK election in December 2019, Russian hackers were unfoundedly accused of leaking documents on negotiations between Britain and the US, which were used by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the election campaign.In an article published in The…
bubmagMarch 15, 2020
For Labour, Rishi Sunak’s Budget is an opportunity – but also a danger
Some of the commentary on the Budget suggests that had Labour won the general election, a new chancellor would have presented a similar financial and economic package: focusing infrastructure spending on roads, neglecting to fix Universal Credit, failing to lift working people out of poverty and deprioritising investment in green technologies. Counterfactuals…
bubmagMarch 13, 2020
Coronavirus: Business as usual for self-isolating MPs
Image copyright AFP Image caption James Brokenshire is among ministers working from home Parliament may still be open for business but the coronavirus crisis is rapidly changing life for MPs.Although only one has so far tested positive - the health minister Nadine Dorries - an increasing number are choosing to…
bubmagMarch 13, 2020
Ian McConnell: Why is Johnson not listening to business on immigration amid ‘got Brexit done’ hot air?
The utter exasperation among the business community in recent weeks over the Conservatives’ planned clampdown on immigration from the European Union has been eye-catching. And when even Scottish Secretary Alister Jack concedes there is a problem, you might hope that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Priti Patel et al…
bubmagMarch 13, 2020
Winning the argument?
The reaction of many on the left to the big spending rises in yesterday’s Budget is that they show that Labour has “won the argument” for higher public spending. This is partly true. On current plans (pdf), total public spending will rise to 40.8% of GDP by 2024-25*. That’s a…
bubmagMarch 12, 2020
Faction of Tory MPs Rebel Against Boris Johnson in Bid to Reject Huawei
British prime minister Boris Johnson nearly faced an intra-party revolt over his decision to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to help the U.K. build its 5G network, as 36 Tory Members of Parliament voted with the Labour Party on Tuesday in an attempt to ban the move.The amendment to ban…
bubmagMarch 10, 2020
Leaving the EU Was the Right Move for the Wrong Reasons
Let’s be clear: the EU was not set up to promote a friendly big socialist community, a Soviet-lite. The EU was created by the US, originally the European Coal and Steel Community set up in 1950 with the intent of promoting European integration, approved by Truman as a Cold War…
bubmagMarch 9, 2020