Sunak causes rift with Cabinet over EV discount end October 13, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly in a row with other Cabinet members – including transport secretary Grant Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – over his proposed plans to cut grants for buying electric vehicles (EV). As reported by the Telegraph, the Treasury is expected to slash the grants – which amount to £2,500 for [...]
Westminster committees: ‘Berlin Wall of digital literacy’ is crippling UK’s poorest October 13, 2021 The government must tear down the “Berlin Wall of digital literacy” between the UK’s richest and poorest households or risk increasing inequality, according to the chairs of two Westminster committees. Education Select Committee chair Robert Halfon and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee chair Julian Knight said in a joint statement that the digital [...]
UK must subsidise R&D into green technology, says Tory think tank October 13, 2021 The government must create a new high-risk laboratory to research cutting edge green technology and hand out tax breaks for businesses that replace gas boilers with heat pumps, according to a leading Tory think tank. Onward, which is run by a large number of Conservative MPs and party grandees, today said in a new report [...]
Lord Callanan: Refurbish, not just rebuild, ahead of COP26 October 12, 2021 The government is looking to tackle embodied carbon – emissions produced during the manufacturing of building materials – as part of its upcoming building strategy. Developers have been knocking down the UK’s drafty homes to pave the way for greener, more energy efficient, new builds. But in doing so, are not preventing as much carbon [...]
Brexit: Frost says UK will accept nothing less than ‘new’ Northern Ireland Protocol October 12, 2021 The UK’s Brexit minister has said the Northern Ireland Protocol must be fundamentally changed or else the UK will suspend it, saying it would be a “historic misjudgment” for Brussels not to act. Lord David Frost said in Lisbon today that the post-Brexit treaty was not working and has irreparably “lost consent in one community [...]
European Commission sets aside €1bn in aid for Afghanistan and neighbour states October 12, 2021 The European Commission has pledged a further €700m to Afghanistan, taking its total funding to €1bn. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the support package earlier today, as the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August. “We must do all we can to avert a major [...]
Macron pledges €30bn to re-industrialise and decarbonise France October 12, 2021 French president Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a €30bn plan to re-industrialise France, pledging funds to a string of sectors from across green energy to robotics. The plan, dubbed ‘France 2030’, has placed a renewed focus on decarbonising French industry, as the country looks to become a leader in green hydrogen. Speaking at the Elysee Palace, Macron [...]
Sunak eyes overhaul of capital raising rules to boost London market post-Brexit October 12, 2021 Rishi Sunak has set out his ambition to make capital raising easier for public companies listed in London as a part of the government’s regulations overhaul post-Brexit. The chancellor today launched the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, which will look at ways of giving listed companies greater access to capital through secondary transactions in a bid [...]
COP26 is not a ‘photo op’ but an opportunity to ‘step up’, says Alok Sharma October 12, 2021 COP26 lead Alok Sharma is expected to urge world leaders today that the upcoming climate conference is not a “photo op” but where “each country must step up”. Speaking at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris today, Sharma is set to say: “Responsibility rests with each and every country. And we must all play [...]
Rishi Sunak blasted for using £19bn of IMF funds as UK aid money abroad October 12, 2021 The Treasury is said to consider using a windfall from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as aid money, by ‘recycling’ billions of pounds, according to reports. Sunak is preparing to use a large portion of the funds to contribute to the UK’s current aid spending rather than using it in addition to what is planned, [...]
