It’s a new dawn for work-shy civil servants. The proportion of them actually working in the office was published on a weekly basis from the summer of 2022 as the government pushed to get pen-pushers to show up for work. No wonder they were to elated to see the back of the Tories...
That data hasn’t been published since May before the election campaign. Now Guido is told by the Cabinet Office, after weeks of delay, that “ministers have not yet given a view on this matter“. Amid Starmer’s gushing “respect” for civil servants, trying to get the blob to actually do some work is a task that’s fallen to the wayside…
UPDATE: The government has revived the work from home data, now published less frequently than before on a quarterly basis. 4 months later…
Kamala Harris declared victory this morning, tweeting that she is “proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee.” An Associated Press survey had at least 2,471 Democrat delegates in her camp, well above the 1,976 threshold for a first-ballot win…
Tonight, I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee.
Over the next few months, I’ll be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line. I fully intend to unite our party and our nation, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/Bsq3N6pMAi
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 23, 2024
Key Democrats like Nancy Pelosi came out for Harris as potential rivals stood aside. Biden’s PAC Future Forward says it collected $150 million in 24 hours for Harris, which comes along with $80 million in small donations and $91 million unspent by Biden’s existing war chest. Enough for a bitter fight…
Now that the party has gone against recommendations for an open race it has the option to formally install Harris before the Democratic National Convention in mid-August. Governors are eyeing up that empty running mate slot. Can you hear the laughter yet?
Friday saw the biggest IT meltdown in history: flights grounded, news channels off air, and people unable to make payments. Now it turns out the global economy took a nosedive because of… the EU…
The tech giant blamed a 2009 agreement with the European Commission which bullied Microsoft into allowing multiple security providers to install software. This prevented security changes that would have blocked the CrowdStrike update that led to the ‘digital pandemic’. Meanwhile, Apple kept the gates locked from other providers since 2020 – a move they managed by not bowing to EU demands. Union-wide disruption…
LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty made an eye-brow raising comment whilst speaking to a caller today. Discussing the American “right-wing media” fuelling Donald Trump’s “oxygen”, she said:
“How can the right-wing media be very small, when Donald Trump only has to put a bandage on his ear to be given world attention?”
Trump was nearly killed…
Labour’s penchant for high taxes has sent shivers down the spines of British business owners, prompting a flurry of sales as they scramble to escape the looming tax storm. Research from Lubbock Fine reveals a staggering 71% surge in mergers and acquisitions as business owners race to sell up. They fear Rachel Reeves’ imminent budget will tighten the tax noose around entrepreneurs with potential increases in capital gains tax…
Further fears that Labour will reduce business asset disposal relief, which allows people who own more than 5% of a company to sell their stake and pay a lower tax rate on their profits have fuelled the rush. Meanwhile, Labour have notably avoided any mention of tax rises in this bracket. If this is how business owners are reacting to potential tax hikes, one can only imagine the exodus that would follow if Reeves does announce a heavy-handed Autumn Statement…
Heathrow’s third runway is back on the table, with Labour now signalling they are “not opposed” to the expansion. The plans have been needlessly stalled since its proposal in 2003, though despite the “open-minded” approach from Labour, the runway would have to meet “four tests”: climate change obligations, noise pollution, air pollution and economic growth. Suspiciously vague…
Given the expected creation of thousands of jobs and injection of billions into the economy, the latter ‘test’ won’t be hard to meet. If Reeves is as committed to growth as she says she is, the plans could finally get off the ground. Sympathies for Ed Miliband…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”